


Beginning

by 18lzytwner



Series: Law & Order SVU Third Series [7]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2020-05-20 13:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 24,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19377280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: Final chapter in my third series.  Elliot and Olivia look to move everything in their lives forward but could Liv's new job set them back?  A new case could ruin everything.  Seventh story in third series EO.





	1. Chapter 1

"Are we moving too fast?" Elliot asked. He stood in the middle of a two story home that had been built shortly before World War II. The older couple who had owned it had both gone into a nursing home and their kids were trying to sell it. It had sat on the market for a while, mostly because it was in need of some serious updating. It sat too long however and now it was up for auction as the state had to repossess it to pay off the medical debts of the couple.

"Moving here will allow you kids to stay in their schools and not limit the time they spend with us. They'll be able to have sleep overs here or just hang out if they want. Can't exactly shove them all into either of our apartments. Heck our apartments are barely big enough for us to live in," Olivia pointed out. She stood next to him taking in the living room.

"It's adorable that you keep putting them first but we do need to think about ourselves. They're getting older and soon they won't need to have adults in their everyday lives," he said.

"So you think that we wouldn't like a nice place for them to come back and visit when they get married and have kids?" She wondered.

"They aren't that old, geez," Elliot said.

"Maureen is looking at colleges. She'll be a high school senior in the fall. Kathleen is going to be in eighth grade and Lizzie and Dickie will be in fifth grade. Before you know it, they will be old enough," his partner told him.

"That means we've been together for almost four years," he was surprised at how the time had flown.

"Four years next month so we aren't moving too fast," Olivia leaned over and kissed him.

"This place needs a lot of work," Elliot pointed out.

"New carpets, new paint, and some new kitchen appliances for sure. We can worry about the other stuff later," she said.

"I think the roof won't be able to wait," a friend of Elliot's commented, as he came in through the front door. Steve Winthrop had served with Elliot in Desert Storm. He was a little older than the detectives and had salt and pepper hair. Standing at six foot tall, his muscles made it noticeable that he still took good care of himself.

"That bad huh?" Elliot wondered, taking Olivia's hand in his.

"Well it looks like it's nearing the end of its twenty year warranty and there are a couple of spots that might not take the winter abuse," Steve admitted. After retiring from the Marines, he had returned home to his father's roofing business and he and Elliot had stayed in touch.

"Ok so new roof, new carpets, new paint, and new kitchen appliances," Olivia said.

"The paint could be tricky. Given the age of the house, there is probably lead in it. New York State says that all lead paint needs to be removed and/or properly covered over," Winthrop told them.

"How do you get rid of lead paint?" She gave him a look.

"Well they go through a process of sealing off a room and then they remove all the old paint. However, if that is too expensive, there is always enclosure or encapsulation. Usually that means covering the lead paint with a durable barrier like vinyl siding or using an adhesive coating. I can give you some contractors in the area that will do a good job," Steve explained.

"Well I bet they won't mention that at the auction tomorrow," Elliot said.

"Probably not, but no matter what, this will probably be a steal. A house just down the block sold for five-hundred and fifty thousand not too long ago," Steve admitted.

"I think the things you mentioned along with the fact that the left behind fixtures look like they stepped out of the sixties will probably have a lot to do with it," Olivia said. While the house had been built before the war, the sixties must have been the last time any work was done on the inside.

"Not too long ago a couple bought a house a few streets over and just bulldozed it and started over. That's always an option," Winthrop shrugged.

"Not on our salaries it's not," Elliot shook his head. They brought home about two hundred and twenty thousand a year between the two of them and getting a home in Queens had changed a lot since Elliot and Kathy had done it back in the eighties.

"Well good luck tomorrow," Steve smiled.

"Thanks man. I appreciate it," Elliot shook his hand.

"Thank me by having my crew come over and fix the roof when you win the auction ok?" Steve smirked.

"We'll let you know how it goes," Elliot promised and the three of them exited the home to let other prospective bidders take a look around.  
"Good thing they allow financing and we got pre-approved," Olivia said.

"I'll say. Let's head to your place," her partner said.


	2. Chapter 2

"What have we got Melinda?" Munch asked. He was wondering how he managed to end up inside the bathroom of a penthouse owned by a rich man this close to the end of his shift. It had been a long week and it was about to get longer.

"Well we've got a dead blonde female in her twenties. Possible signs of sexual assault. She's got markings on her wrists and ankles which seem to suggest that she was tied up. I wouldn't hold my breath for any fluids," the medical examiner shook her head.

"Yeah, how nice of our perp to leave her body in a bathtub full of water," Fin shook his head. He took in the fancy marble tile and bathtub surround for the free-standing bathtub. A separate shower stall was located a little further away and the faucets were a gold color. The toilet had its own little corner to be in complete with modesty half wall.

"We're assuming this to be a sexual crime because she was possibly tied up or because she decided she wanted to take her clothes off before bathing?" Munch wanted to know.

"The show is in the adjoining bedroom," Melinda jerked her head toward the closed door not too far away.

"I think this bathroom is bigger than my first apartment," Fin commented as he and Munch went through the closed door.

"This apartment is bigger than my first house," his partner cracked.

"Detectives, so glad you could join us," Rich, the CSU tech, said.

"Well you know how we like to make an entrance. What exactly got us called to the scene?" Munch wanted to know.

"When we opened the closet, we thought we better call you," Rich admitted. He pointed to the corner of the room and Jackie, Rich's colleague, opened the door. There was an interesting collection of toys, which included ball gags, a whip, and some leather items.

"A little S and M huh? Well that would certainly tell us the resident likes it rough but not much else," Fin cocked an eyebrow.

"Then there's the markings on the bed," Rich said. The bed looked like it had been made and not slept in but the points of interest that the tech was pointing to were on the head and footboards.

"So a little tying up, which would match our victim in the tub. Bed is awfully neat and tidy though if she was assaulted here, someone must have cleaned up," Munch frowned at the marks left in the wood, which would match the handcuffs in the closet.

"And forgot the body in the bathtub?" Fin wondered.

"Well that's where things get weird," Rich admitted.

"Get weird? As if they weren't weird enough already?" Munch gave him a look.

"The homeowner swears that he has no idea who the girl is and was on a business trip for the last week," Officer Hayes said from the doorway.

"Can we confirm that?" Fin asked.

"The front desk says they promised to hold his mail for the week and tell the cleaning lady to not bother coming," Hayes explained.

"We'll need to confirm that story. Send the info to Kenny at our precinct. Lead us to the homeowner," Munch said.

"He's a Mr. Jonathan Schwartz. Capital Investment banker on Wall Street," Hayes took them over to a man who was sitting on the plush living room couch. He was older with dark brown hair that Fin surmised was dyed.

"Hi Mr. Schwartz, I'm Detective Munch and this is my partner, Detective Tutuola. Officer Hayes says you don't know the lady in your tub?" The elder man asked.

"I don't. I have no idea how she got in here," Schwartz admitted.

"Well why don't we start with a list of people who have keys or access to your place," Fin said.

"Me, building maintenance, my housekeeper, and the front desk," the man said.

"No family or friends?" Munch asked.

"My parents live upstate and my friends would have no reason to have a key," Schwartz explained.

"Well we're going to need you to come down to the precinct until we can verify your business trip details," Fin told him.

"And then there's the matter of the items we found in your closet…" Munch trailed off.


	3. Chapter 3

"The auction is today right?" Olivia asked as they pulled up the house they had been looking at yesterday.

"Yeah, supposed to start in twenty minutes, why?" Elliot asked as he made sure the car was expertly parallel parked.

"I just thought more people would be here, I guess," she commented as they exited the vehicle. Elliot locked the doors and walked around to her side of the car. There were only a few people standing around in front of the home; the auctioneer and his crew included. He took the time to mentally count everyone and the total came to twenty.

"I guess you're right. Other folks know something we don't?" Elliot wondered. Olivia shrugged and they headed over to the small gathering.

"You guys here to bid on the house?" An older gentleman asked as he noticed them approaching the group. He had to be close to seventy and not exactly looking like someone who would want to buy a house that needed so much work.

"Hopefully. What about you?" Olivia asked, curious as to why he asked the question.

"Well I'm afraid things aren't going to happen today. There's been a development," at this the man frowned.

"The kids pay off their folks medical bills?" Elliot wondered.

"Hardly. It's what was found this morning that has us concerned. The auctioneer found something that he felt he needed to call the police for. We're just waiting on them before we disperse," the man said. Almost at the same time, Olivia and Elliot pulled out their badges and flashed them to the man.

"We're off duty but what did they find?" Elliot asked. The older man held up his finger at them before calling to the auctioneer who headed over to them. Again the partners flashed their badges and this time introduced themselves.

"The local precinct wasn't in a big hurry to get here so I'm glad you're here. I don't think the homeowners left this behind, at least I hope they didn't," the auctioneer, a man about fifty, named Jim Bowers, told them.

"Well lead on and we'll call it in if we think otherwise," Olivia suggested. Jim nodded and the three of them headed for the fenced in backyard. "Fenced in" was a rather liberal term as the wooden fence looked as though it hadn't been painted in twenty years and only parts of it were completely upright.

"This morning as I was unlocking everything and making sure that things were set for the auction and I decided to check the backyard. I saw one of the neighbors' dogs had gotten into the yard and it was digging in the dirt. I chased it off and then went to check on the hole and well…" Jim explained as he opened the gate and led them to the spot. Elliot crouched down and looked at the hole, making sure not to touch anything.

"Is that what I think it is?" Olivia asked.

"Looks like a leg bone but it could be from an animal. It's old and not something that the dog just dropped here," her partner said.

"How can you tell?" She gave him a look.

"It hasn't been gnawed on like a chew toy. No bite marks in it," he told her.

"Could it be a family pet?" Silently the seasoned detective was hoping it was a good guess but in the pit of her stomach, she knew she was wrong. The bone looked too long to be that of a dog.

"Better safe than sorry, you better call Melinda," Elliot said. Olivia heaved a sigh and pulled her phone out of pocket and put a call into the medical examiner. Once that call was done with, she called the Captain. He promised to light a fire under the local precinct's butt.

"This is now a crime scene. We're going to need you to go back out front and make sure that no one leaves. We're also going to need the information on how to contact the family of the couple that owned this house," Elliot told Jim. The man nodded and headed back out front.

"We should have officers here soon," Olivia said when she hung up her phone.

"Good. Hopefully this is just an animal bone and we're overreacting," he sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.

"We just can't have nice things can we?" His partner asked.


	4. Chapter 4

"So is it a SVU competition with who can find the weirdest bodies?" Melinda asked as she walked up to the two detectives about twenty minutes later.

"If it's a human bone, then we'll call it a competition," Elliot told her.

"Olivia, you said that a dog had managed to get a hold of it?" The medical examiner questioned.

"Yup. We're not sure how he found it but since it has no bite marks, we figured he hadn't had it long," the brunette told her. Melinda nodded and got down on the ground with her kit. She called to a nearby forensic tech and had him take a picture before she lifted the bone up and out of the hole that had been dug.

"First, let me just say, that dog could be a good cadaver dog. Definitely real bone and definitely old," she said as the rest of her team arrived. They would need to grid the area and search for more bones if she determined it to be human remains.

"Is it human or is it deer?" Elliot asked.

"Can't tell just yet. We need more info," Melinda admitted. She turned to her team and said,

"Start with the ground penetrating radar. Let's see what we're dealing with."

"You can't tell?" Olivia was a little surprised.

"Well if the interior of the bone was exposed, I could narrow it down but right now there's only one marker I could use, and given the age of the bone, I don't want to confirm without more information," the medical examiner explained. Olivia nodded.

"Let us know what you find. We've got some jurisdiction issues to deal with. Homicide is bucking to take the case, if it turns out to be human remains," Elliot said.

"Well if it's a kid, then they won't have a choice but to give it to you," Melinda said as she got to her feet.

"Let's hope it isn't a kid," Olivia heaved a sigh. Elliot indicated that he was going to go talk to the officers that were keeping the scene secure.

"So what were you guys doing out here anyway?" The medical examiner asked.

"Elliot was hoping to get a house so that the kids could have more room and not have to worry about getting back to Kathy's in time for school. Sharing custody and paying for rent in an apartment doesn't exactly mesh," the detective answered.

"You figured you'd help out? That's nice. This place needs a lot of work huh?" Melinda pointed out.

"A fair amount but it was up for auction. Seems that would be the only way to buy a house here now, well on a cop's salary at least," Olivia said.

"Yeah but some of the nicer two bedroom apartments can be the same price now," the medical examiner said. Olivia nodded. Housing in the city had always been different than in the rest of the country.

"Kenny just texted me. Wants to know how things are going. Seems like Fin and Munch have hit a brick wall," Elliot said as he walked back over.

"Well I can go back to the precinct and give them a hand if they need it," Olivia offered.

"Nothing you can do. They're trying to get Casey to issue some subpoenas. Seems the building where their victim was found, doesn't like handing out information without one," he told her.

"So any luck getting the contact info for the kids who owned this place?" She asked her partner.

"Jesse and Beth Müller. I've put in a call to Jesse as he lives in the city. Beth moved upstate," Elliot said.

"Let's hope they can give us some answers," Olivia said.


	5. Chapter 5

"So much for a day off huh?" Fin asked as Olivia and Elliot walked into the bullpen around four o'clock that afternoon.

"Not exactly the way I was hoping to spend it, no," Elliot heaved a sigh and collapsed into his seat.

"We had enough work already and you guys had to go out and find more," Munch teased, trying to lighten the mood over what the final discovery had been. Olivia just heaved a sigh. The bones in the backyard had been in fact human – a small human. Missing persons was forwarding them a list of all the cases in the area since the house was built. Once they had a definitive date range from Melinda, then the list could be pared down.

"How goes your case?" Olivia asked.

"We're running background checks on the subpoenaed list of people who had access. Kenny was able to confirm the owner's story. He wasn't in town when the girl died in his apartment," Fin told them.

"How dumb does someone have to be given the fact that the apartment building is so tight with security?" Elliot wondered.

"Well he wasn't totally dumb. I have to wonder if this is some sort of game for the guy we're looking for. He likes to tie his partners up. He borrows an apartment and has no concerns that he would leave anything out of place," Munch said.

"If anything, the only thing he did leave out of place was the body," Kenny spoke up as he entered the bullpen. The desk sergeant had a message for him and now it was time to update everyone.

"How do you know that already?" Olivia gave him a look.

"Mr. Schwartz had pictures of his most expensive items that he also insured. Nothing is missing. The safe wasn't touched," Kenny explained.

"His TV and electronics seemed to all be there when we went in to see the scene," Fin admitted.

"So the thrill is in the act of not getting caught. He took it to the next level though. Perhaps he's an adrenaline junkie of sorts. The first step is taking the girl to the apartment. At first that may be enough. So then the next time they start to play with Schwartz's toys. Next they maybe get more adventurous with their escapades – breath play or some other form of dangerous acts. Then either he decides to not let her in on the secret that he's ready to kill her or it's some horrible accident. I have to admit though, this doesn't feel like an accident," Elliot shook his head.

"I'm calling Huang. We may be a little out of our depth here. If he truly is an adrenaline junkie, his next victim could be very soon," Captain Cragen said before heading into his office. The phone on Munch's desk rang and he quickly picked it up. He wasn't on the phone long and when he thanked the person he had this look on his face.

"What is it?" Olivia grew concerned.

"That was missing persons. No one has reported our victim missing," he said.

"Well that isn't entirely surprising. She could only be dead for a day," Fin said.

"Yeah it wasn't that. They have the list together for Elliot and Olivia," Munch started.

"How bad is it?" Elliot was growing concerned.

"There are twenty children who have gone missing in the area where they found the body," the elder detective told them.

"Twenty? In that quiet neighborhood?" Olivia thought that was awfully strange despite the date range of over sixty years.

"They said that if your victim isn't in there then there are about ten-thousand cases in just the last decade," Munch swallowed.


	6. Chapter 6

It would be three days before Melinda called Elliot and Olivia to come down to the morgue. The numbers of missing persons was staggering and only what the medical examiner had found would help them sift through the terrible list.

"So what did you find?" Elliot asked as Melinda uncovered the bones on her examining table.

"The victim was four foot six inches tall, blonde, and still had some baby teeth," she started.

"How old would that make the victim?" Olivia swallowed.

"You start losing baby teeth at age six but they should be all gone by age twelve. Given the height of the victim, I'd say that they were about ten years old," Melinda explained.

"They?" Elliot gave her a look.

"Since the victim hadn't completed puberty, I can't use the usual markers on the pelvis to tell if it's a girl or a boy. The skull isn't old enough and isn't as reliable to determine gender. I sent some teeth and marrow that I was able to extract to the DNA lab. I also sent some of the bones to be carbon dated. The results are not back yet but it's not like they are in a rush. There are fresh murders that take precedence," the medical examiner said.

"You didn't find clothes?" Olivia asked, her mind already going somewhere that most peoples wouldn't.

"Only scraps were left, which I sent to the lab, but I wouldn't hold my breath on those being overly helpful," Melinda admitted.

"We checked the records and we couldn't find that the Müllers had more than the two kids, Jesse and Beth," Elliot frowned.

"I hate to state the obvious but did you see of Beth had a child?" The coroner asked.

"There's nothing on record," Olivia said. She had been glad for that but only for a moment when she observed the behavior of the Müller children.

"The weird thing is that we can't seem to get Jesse to come in and talk to us," her partner told the medical examiner. Elliot had called both siblings after the discovery but neither one had returned his call. So they had tried to visit Jesse's apartment but no one answered the door. The landlord had told them that he hadn't seen him in a couple of days but the mail wasn't backing up. That meant that Jesse was coming home and avoiding the police.

"That does seem suspicious. I hope what I found helps a little. Maybe if you lean on the lab, they'll get those results," Melinda said.

"We'll do just that. Thanks," Olivia gave a tight smile. Elliot did the same and the partners headed back to their car. As they climbed into the vehicle, Olivia's phone rang and she quickly answered it.

"Benson." Elliot pulled into traffic, heading for the lab.

"That was the team sitting on Jesse's apartment. He just returned home. They're intercepting," Olivia told him.

"Well then lets lean on the lab later and head for the precinct," Elliot said. His partner put on the sirens and they hauled butt back to the precinct. While they were doing that, Olivia sent a text to Detective Martinez in Missing Persons. Giving the particulars of what they had found out at the medical examiner's office. He promised to add the details and let them know how many that left on the list.

"You guys get a lead?" Munch asked as they walked into the bullpen twenty minutes later.

"Sort of. The guys finally managed to corner Jesse Müller and are bringing him in," Elliot said.

"Nice of Cold Case to be helping out," Fin said.

"You guys find anything on your guy?" Olivia asked.

"We expected to have a suspect by now but none of the apartments are empty for tenants travelling on a business trip. So either our guy has slipped back into his regular routine or he's busy working his kink somewhere else," Kenny heaved a sigh. Olivia nodded.

"You'll never guess why Mr. Müller wasn't returning your calls," Detective Abigail Price had a smirk on her face.

"What did you guys find?" Elliot asked.

"A nice stash of weed. It's still illegal in New York and don't tell us you have a prescription," Detective Omar Abadi said.

"Jesse, you should know better. We have a nice seat for you in interrogation," Olivia told him as the pair of Cold Case detectives took the man down the hall.


	7. Chapter 7

"So are you using the weed to forget? Don't tell me you have glaucoma because even if you did, you wouldn't need five pounds of pot," Elliot said from his seat at the table, his arms crossed in front of him. With Jesse Müller now sitting across from them in the interrogation room, Olivia hoped they could get some answers.

"It's my business man," Jesse said.

"Wrong. It's illegal. You're going to get charged and you're going to jail. The question is for how long. You help us with that body we found in your parents backyard, and maybe, just maybe, we convince the DA's office you didn't have as much weed as you did," Olivia told him. Jesse seemed to not be in the mood to talk.

"You know what? I bet that body is somehow tied to you. Something we found in the God-forsaken hole, ties to you doesn't it? You like killing kids Jesse?" Elliot tried a different tack and he leaned closer to the possible suspect.

"This guy has smoked too much pot to be capable of killing anything more than some blunts. Then again, it could be an act. You know when we get people in this room, they always try to hide who they really are but what they don't know is that there is no hiding the monster inside. Eventually, it wants out, and there is no stopping it. You can play this game with us but we've seen it all. We will get the truth out of you Jesse and it won't be pretty in the end," Olivia had a smirk on her face. It was now that both detectives could see Jesse sweating. They were getting to him.

"You know I bet I know why Beth hasn't called me back. She's afraid of her brother. Maybe we should send Price and Abadi up there to have a chat with her. Having grown up in the city, there had to be a reason for her to move all the way up near Watertown and I doubt it was for the over one hundred inches of snow they get every year," Elliot continued.

"I find it odd she left your parents with you but then again maybe for once in her life she did what she had to do to get out," his partner said. There was a knock on the door, which ordinarily the partners wouldn't put up with. However, Olivia used it to her advantage and quickly opened the door.

"Detective Abadi, did you get a hold of Beth?" The answer that came next was something she didn't expect.

"Seems that Beth was already on her way here when I called her to tell her that Jesse was going to jail. Promises to be here within the hour," Omar said.

"Coming to save her brother?" Elliot asked.

"Nope. She said 'I hope he rots in jail'. Her exact words," Omar told them.

"How do you like that? Your own sister can't even stand you," Olivia shook her head.

"I want a lawyer," Jesse's first words in a while.

"I bet you do," Elliot shook his head. He was hoping that Jesse would squeal but he wasn't as dumb as he appeared to be. Leaving him with an officer, the detectives regrouped in the bullpen.

"You called Beth?" Elliot asked.

"Not exactly. She called your desk and your Captain answered it. Seems like Beth has a lot on her mind," Omar said.

"Yes it would appear so. I think we better call Huang. This family may be more screwed up than we thought," Olivia shook her head.

"He's helping Fin and Munch right now in the other interrogation room," Kenny spoke up from his desk.

"We're a little busy around here," Elliot admitted.

"I guess so," Abigail said. She had been hanging out in the bullpen with her partner while all of this was going on.

"You sure you don't want to join our fun little unit?" Olivia asked the Cold Case detective.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dark - I'm not sure that it could be triggering but I figure a heads up was warranted.

"So what made you come in?" Elliot asked as he handed Beth Müller a cup of coffee. When the woman had arrived, Elliot and Olivia took her up to the lounge, where Huang was waiting for them. Jesse was busy being booked on the drug charges.

"I needed to deal with the demons that I've been trying to bury," Beth admitted, moving her hands around the warm cup.

"Demons?" Olivia asked.

"You have to understand, my parents tried. They really did. They took him to specialists. They tried institutionalizing him. But like a bad penny, Jesse kept coming home, no better than he was before. If anything, he was worse," Beth told them.

"Who is the little body that we found in your yard?" Elliot pressed.

"I didn't know there was a body but it would explain a lot," the woman ran a hand through her short brunette hair. She was not very tall and was a little on the heavier side. Still she dressed fashionably but her makeup barely hid the dark circles under her eyes.

"What exactly would it explain?" Olivia felt terrible for pressing the woman but she knew that it might be the only way to get what they needed. If Jesse was as bad as Beth suggested then there were likely more bodies to find.

"When we were growing up, Jesse had this mean streak in him. He seemed to enjoy other people's pain. At first, my parents thought it was a phase but as he got older, it was obvious that it wasn't.

There was a neighborhood cat that always came around and would play with me before it went to the next person it would visit. It didn't have a collar or anything but it never harmed anyone and people left food and water out for it. I think the adults were just happy that it kept the rodents away. Well one day, the cat didn't come by, and I was a little concerned, so I went looking for it.

I knew a hiding spot that it liked and I found her there. She'd just had a litter of kittens. They were so adorable but I knew that they couldn't stay outside. Winter was approaching and the hiding spot wasn't the best in the bad weather. I went to the house next door to the spot and the lady quickly agreed she'd help them.

By spring, the kittens were able to be on their own and the lady gave them away since the mom had seemed to lose interest. I wanted one in the worst way but I knew that if I brought one home, it could be disastrous. Our hamsters, gerbils, and lizards never lived very long and I suspected it was because of my brother. Mom and Dad had said no more pets. They were hoping that with nothing to entice him, Jesse would just forget about it.

He didn't. Later that spring, the momma cat went missing. People looked all over the neighborhood and we never found her. I never had the heart to tell anyone that I was pretty sure Jesse had hurt her and buried her in the backyard. My Dad confronted him about a patch of lawn that had been dug up and Jesse tried to attack him with a knife. Dad hit him with a baseball bat and Jesse dropped the knife. After that, Mom dragged Jesse to a psychiatrist but that didn't seem to do much.

There were more incidents of violence, mostly against us, and more attempts at getting him help but none of it worked. So when he turned eighteen, my Dad kicked him out of the house, told him to never come back. He just smirked at my Dad and left the house. He didn't take any of his stuff with him. Mom boxed it all up and put it in the basement but while she was boxing things up we found more disturbing things. Pictures with people's eyes scratched out, drawings of violence being done to other people. Mom burned them all. I often thought what had we done? We sent him out into the world. People had no idea what a monster he was but on the other hand, we were so relieved to have him not torturing us. That sounds horrible but you have no idea what a relief it was to not have to lock my bedroom door at night. Eventually, my boyfriend was offered a job near Watertown and I went with him, hoping that I'd be able to just stay away. When I got married, Mom and Dad came up for the wedding. We'd visit each other as much as we could but they always made a point of coming to see me. Once they couldn't drive anymore, I made sure that I came by as much as I could. Then Mom had a stroke and it was all downhill from there," Beth finished.

"You never heard from your brother after all these years?" Elliot asked.

"No and I'm glad," she admitted.

"I'm glad we caught him," Olivia said. Huang had been quiet through the whole exchange. She could see his wheels were turning and she knew that what came next was not good.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ready?" Elliot asked his partner. Olivia had stood up and put her coat on. After speaking to Beth, Huang said that he wanted to speak in more depth with her. Cold Case Detectives Price and Abadi had offered to lean on the lab earlier in the day, since they had connections with their work. Detective Martinez in Missing Persons had texted to say that five of the twenty cases near the Müller house met the details that they had sent – three girls and two boys.

"I think so," Olivia finally said. Elliot could tell that she was tired even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Hopefully we'll have something soon on our victim. At a minimum, I'd like to tell the family that we found their child," he said.

"That would be nice. I'm not sure we can tie Jesse to the body though. Despite his history, he managed to not get arrested until now," Olivia frowned as they headed for the door.

"Guys! Hold up!" It was Kenny.

"What have you got?" Elliot asked.

"Huang just finished up with Beth. I'm giving her a ride to a nearby hotel so she can get some sleep but the doctor wants to speak to you," Kenny explained.

"Thanks. How's the case with Munch and Fin going?" Olivia wanted to know.

"We identified the victim, Sandra Berry. Her prints were in the system. Turns out she worked for the postal service. Munch and Fin talked to Huang's colleagues. They're letting us run with it since we're ahead but the local office is sending two agents to help out. If we turn up any victims that wouldn't fall under federal jurisdiction, then we'll take those. The FBI is running the MO through their system to see if our guy has struck somewhere else. Everyone seems to think that things were too neat for his first time," the younger man told them.

"Maybe he just has OCD," Elliot suggested.

"Hey nothing surprises me anymore," Kenny shrugged.

"I was told to find Detective Briscoe," Beth said as she approached them.

"That's me. I'm sure you'd like to get some sleep. You've had a long day," he said.

"It has been a day but I'm getting hungry too," she admitted.

"Well then I know just the place on the way to your hotel!" Kenny brightened and gestured toward the exit. The woman smiled slightly and followed him out.

"Leave it to Kenny to be so perky at a time like this," Olivia smiled.

"Beth could use someone to make her smile. I think I have a way to catch Jesse though from our talks," Huang said from behind them.

"That little body in the backyard has no physical evidence to tie him to it. We just have Beth's words and the fact that nothing points to anyone else putting the body there," Elliot gave him a look.

"I don't think that Jesse was using the weed. I think he was just using it to access victims," Huang told them.

"We're listening," Olivia said.

"I have little doubt that Jesse killed animals as a child. Beth's descriptions of his behavior are some classic symptoms of sociopathy. Weed slows reaction time and would make it easier to capture someone to use for his sick purposes. He could manipulate any of his pot smoking customers into doing things they wouldn't normally do when they were sober," the FBI agent explained.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel. We need to find his distributor. There is no way that Jesse was growing all that pot on his own in his apartment," Elliot said.

"Well given the quantity he had on him when he was arrested, his distributor might be dead. A corner guy doesn't usually have that much on hand so that if they ever got caught, it'd be a lesser charge," Olivia pointed out.

"Better talk to Fin and see if Narcotics can help us," her partner said.


	10. Chapter 10

"So this couldn't wait until morning huh?" Fin's contact at Narcotics asked. His name was Detective Rob Wilson and he was just back from a stint undercover. Elliot and Olivia had high tailed it over to the unit in hopes of catching him.

"We're thinking that Jesse Müller murdered his distributor in an attempt to cut out the middle man," Elliot said as they sat at the Narcotics detective's desk.

"How is this SVU's problem?" Wilson leaned back in his chair, confused. The tall African-American man, looked like he was in great shape despite his appearance wearing his undercover clothes as a gang member.

"The dead kid in the backyard of his parents' home is what started this," Olivia explained.

"Yeah that'll do it. Since pot is trending toward legal in this state, the dealers and distributors are trying to make their money now. Could be that his distributor told him to offload the quantity that he had while there was still some good money to be made. If it goes legal, they can't be charging crazy rates for it when your local kid gets the itch to have the munchies," Wilson pointed out.

"He had five pounds on him," Elliot told him.

"Shit. Yeah his distributor wouldn't have done that. Ok, let me run a search but none of the guys I know are missing," Wilson said, quickly punching the keys on his keyboard.

"Is there another way to get five pounds of it?" Olivia asked.

"Only if you're growing it yourself and the search of Jesse's apartment by my colleagues didn't turn up any plants. We've got guys digging for anything that might indicate a storage unit or something, according to this," the detective pointed to the file notes on the screen of his computer.

"Let us know what you find. Maybe we can tie him to the murder of his distributor and then see about getting information from him on the kid we found," Elliot said.

"If he really killed a kid, killing his distributor wouldn't be a big deal. I'll be in touch. What are your next moves?" Rob wanted to know.

"We're heading to the morgue in the morning to see if the ME has anything on drug deaths. Could be a customer or two ended up dead too," Olivia shook her head.

"This guy is a piece of work," Wilson said.

"You don't know the half of it," Elliot told him. That's when Olivia's phone chirped. She pulled it out of her pocket and smirked.

"What?" Her partner asked.

"Price and Abadi came through. The lab has something from the body," Olivia said.

"Then off to the lab. Thanks Rob," Elliot said.

"Don't mention it. Good luck," Wilson told them as they headed out the door. The two climbed into their car and quickly made their way down to the lab, wondering what the technicians found.

"We're looking for a tech by the name of Bennett," Elliot said as the partners entered the lab some twenty minutes later. The tech they were passing in the hall was on his way out.

"He's burning the midnight oil over at bench number three," the tech smiled and they parted ways. The partners then entered the main room and found it empty, except for one technician.

"Bennett?" Olivia asked.

"Chuck Bennett at your service. You must be Benson and Stabler?" He asked. The red-haired tech had to be fresh out of college.

"We are. What did you find?" Elliot wanted to know.

"I managed to retrieve DNA from the marrow. The teeth were no good. I'm running the sample now, hoping for a familial match. The bones are old but I can't give an accurate range. Carbon-14 dating is tricky on the younger items. I can say with certainty that our victim was born after the Second World War and died probably in the late eighties or early nineties. Does that help?" Bennett asked.

"Our suspect is forty-two so if the victim died in the late eighties or early nineties that would make our suspect as young as ten or as old as seventeen. That makes sense," Olivia said.

"Especially if he was killing cats at age ten," Elliot nodded.

"Of the five cases, you sent over, only two match the time frame. If I don't get a familial match in the system, I'll need DNA from their families to confirm," Chuck told them.

"What about the clothes?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Material confirms time frame but there was no useable DNA or anything on it. I can say that the victim was only buried once as the dirt samples on the clothes match what the backyard is made up of," Chuck said. The results were helpful but they still left many questions. The partners thanked the lab tech before heading home.


	11. Chapter 11

"NYPD Detectives Munch and Tutuola to see FBI Agents Rice and Gunning," John and Fin flashed their badges at the receptionist at the main desk in the bottom of the federal building. She smiled and quickly called up to the agents in question.

"They're expecting you. Take the elevators to the twenty-third floor, please," the receptionist smiled.

"Thanks," Munch smiled and they headed over to the elevators.

"Hopefully they have some insight. We're stuck," Fin said as the elevator climbed up to the twenty-third floor.

"If our guy was smart he would have skipped town by now," Munch shook his head as the elevator doors opened.

"Munch and Tutuola?" A younger man in a nice dark suit asked.

"We are and you are?" Munch wanted to know.

"Agent Jeff Rice, nice to meet you. Agent Gunning is in the conference room," the man smiled as he shook their hands.

"Don't take this wrong but are they hiring kids fresh out of high school now?" Munch joked as they wound their way through the cubes toward the conference room.

"I get that a lot. I'm actually in my thirties," Rice smirked.

"I need to know your secret then," John said.

"I'll see what I can do," the younger man winked as he opened the conference room door.

"Tom, this is Munch and Tutuola from NYPD's SVU," Rice made the introductions.

"Nice to meet you guys. So Sandra Berry," Gunning shook their hands and then pointed to the murder board that the agents had setup.

"Yes, poor Sandra. You guys talk to her family? Was she into kink?" Fin asked.

"Not an easy subject to broach with parents as you can imagine. Sandra had moved out of her folks place once she got the mail carrying job. I got the distinct feeling they knew something but weren't willing to spill the beans. How did your search of her apartment go?" Gunning asked.

"About as well as you'd expect. Her roommate, Ally Ziller, let us search Sandra's bedroom but wanted a warrant for the rest of the apartment. Our ADA is trying to get a warrant now. If Sandra was into the kinky stuff, we saw no evidence of it in her bedroom. My guess is that her roommate may have sanitized the room before we got there," Munch explained.

"Trying to protect her friend, I get it," Rice said.

"Yes but Sandra's killer could be slipping away. You guys find anything in your database that matches the MO?" Fin wanted to know.

"No and all of those people that had access to Schwartz's apartment passed federal background checks," Rice told them.

"So what our guy is a master lock picker and decides to pick Schwartz's apartment out of the whole of New York?" Munch shook his head.

"We ruled out people in his building. What about people he works with? Often coworkers know people are going on vacation or heading out of town for business," Gunning said.

"One of our uni's said he worked on Wall Street, which he wasn't far off. Schwartz actually works for BofA Securities down on Bryant Park. There are a lot of people in that building and we don't have the ammo to go busting in there asking questions," Fin told them. He was right. If they started poking around, not only would it alert a possible suspect but it could also have the rich and powerful trying to silence the investigation.

"Well then it's a good thing that we have the ammo. We spoke our investment banker and he gave us a list of people at his office that would have known he was going out of town for business," Rice smirked.

"Fantastic. Did you get any suspects?" Munch wanted to know.

"Well we have two candidates – Schwartz's boss, a Mr. Edgar Centi, and his buddy, a Mr. Simon Frank. The other people who knew were the lady in HR and another female colleague but we ruled them out given the type of crime," Gunning said.

"Shall we pay them a visit?" Munch wondered.

"We figured we'd take Centi and you could take Frank. Then met back up and compare notes?" Rice wondered.

"Let's roll," Fin said.


	12. Chapter 12

"You guys find anything yet?" Kenny asked as he walked into the squad room after lunch the next day. He'd met up with Beth Müller again before she left town. Her family needed her back home and the younger man promised to let her know if they needed her again.

"You'd be surprised at the number of deaths that Melinda had for us. Of course we told her to include every one of them, even if it wasn't weed related," Olivia admitted, pointing to the two large stacks in-between her desk and her partners.

"Why would you do that?" Kenny was a little confused. If someone overdosed on heroin, it didn't seem likely that they'd have weed in their system.

"We were curious if any of them fell inside the geographical pattern of Jesse Müller's possible hunting ground near his apartment," Elliot told him.

"Ah, just in case he decided to whack someone not connected to him. Need some help? Fin and Munch are still hanging out with the FBI guys," Kenny said.

"Geez, you think you know people," Olivia teased.

"Hey better pay and benefits are all it takes for some folks," Briscoe chuckled.

"Are you kidding? Munch probably has a file a mile long. He'd never pass the background check," Elliot teased.

"According to my Uncle Lennie, when Munch asked for his file, they handed him a single sheet of paper," Kenny could hardly contain himself.

"A conspiracy hiding the real file then," Olivia chuckled. The three had a good laugh and poor Munch's expense but were interrupted by the Captain.

"I didn't think murder was so funny," he said.

"Just busting Munch's chops, Cap. Anyway, we have to do something to keep our eyes falling out of our heads. The drug problem is very real," Elliot told him.

"I guess so. How many cases in the time frame?" Cragen wanted to know.

"Hundreds maybe even thousands but we narrowed the scope so it gave us at least fifty drug deaths that were suspicious," Olivia explained.

"So no overdoses or drug related suicides," he said.

"Correct. We're looking at cases where the victim's tox screen was less than clean when they died," Elliot said.

"Most have fallen outside of the half-mile radius around Jesse's apartment and some have had people who confessed so we're narrowing the pile," Olivia told him.

"Well that may have to wait. The lab just called. They said that the DNA didn't come up with any familial matches in the system. You're going to have to go to the two families and see if you can get DNA from them," Cragen delivered the news. Olivia heaved a sigh.

"I hate doing that. We know that it can't be both kids. To give either family some hope just…" Elliot shook his head.

"I know. You guys go and I'll help Kenny," Cragen offered. The two partners nodded, stood up, and headed for the door, pulling their coats on as they went.

"You think we'll be able to nail this guy?" Kenny asked, once they were out of earshot.

"I don't know but what I do know is that if we don't, he'll get out of jail after his drug sentence and disappear," Cragen shook his head at the pile of files in front of him.

"We can't have that. He'll go after Beth and her family," Kenny said.

"Then we'd better get to work," the Captain said. He plunked down in Olivia's chair and grabbed the first file on the top of the pile closest to him. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Meanwhile, Munch and Fin had met up back at the FBI's New York office to speak with Rice and Gunning. They had a sneaking suspicion that their guy was within reach. The four met up in the conference room where they'd met the day before.

"So what do you think of Mr. Frank?" Agent Gunning asked.

"He seemed like he was surprised we'd want to talk to him. Still something about him doesn't sit right. His alibi was that he was home alone. We've got the local precinct keeping an eye on him while we talk with you guys," Munch said.

"We've ruled the boss, Mr. Centi, out. He's not strong enough to lift a dead body. He's been using a cane for the last six months; messed up his knee playing squash apparently. Even gave us his doctor's name and permission to look at his medical file," Rice told them.

"So Frank has to be our guy but how'd he get into Schwartz's apartment?" Fin wondered.

"He must have had an occasion to copy Schwartz's keys. We found no lock picking scratches on the lock at his apartment," Gunning frowned.

"No way he lifted his buddy's keys and managed to run down to the hardware store without anyone at his office noticing," Fin said.

"All he'd need to do is make an impression of the key in something soft and then he could make his own key. Still that leaves him getting into Schwartz's building with his lady friend. When is the front desk occupied?" Munch asked.

"According to the building manager, someone is on duty from seven am until four pm. If anyone wanted to gain access to the building after four pm, they have to have a key or have someone buzz them in. The maintenance guy lives on the first floor so if anyone is having a tough time getting in, someone is still in the building," Rice said.

"Ok follow me on this one," Gunning told them. They all turned to look at him.

"Our guy makes molds of the keys on Schwartz's ring but he doesn't know which one opens the front door and which one opens the apartment door. All he has to do is wait until after four pm and try them. Once he figures out which one is which, then he can breeze through the building without anyone thinking twice. You guys said that Huang figured him for an adrenaline junky. Stealing his buddy's keys for a few minutes while he's in a meeting would be ballsy in front of the entire office. Using keys that he fashioned himself and hoping to not get caught testing them out. Then of course, bringing a woman to an apartment that isn't his and not only having crazy sex but then leaving her dead body in the bathtub. How many people would think that Schwartz was telling the truth? How much time was wasted checking out Schwartz's alibi and checking through the staff at the building? All of that time and our guy is just calmly going about his day to day life," Gunning said.

"The only thing he didn't take into account was us checking Schwartz's office for suspects. Say you're right. Say that's exactly what our guy did. How do we prove it? If he's as smart as we think he is, he threw out those fake keys he made. With no fluids and no one who can put him near the scene of the crime, what can we do?" Fin wanted to know.

"The only thing we can do, break his alibi. Ten bucks says he forgot to leave his phone at home. We get his GPS info and confront him. Meantime, we should get a photo of him over to Sandra's roommate. If she can confirm that Frank was seeing Sandra then that should be enough to get him nervous," Rice said.

"Here's hoping," Munch said.


	13. Chapter 13

Elliot and Olivia collapsed on her couch. Visiting the families of the missing children and getting their hopes up was not what they wanted to do but they had little choice. They had dropped the samples off at the lab and now were debating what they wanted to do about dinner.

"Should we get up and go out or just delivery?" Elliot asked.

"Delivery. I don't want to go out," Olivia admitted.

"Sounds like a plan," he said, swiping a couple of menus off the coffee table. That's when Olivia's phone rang.

"That can't be the DNA already," Olivia frowned as she answered the phone. Elliot let her handle the call while he decided if he wanted Mexican or Italian.

"I was waiting for that," she heaved a sigh after she hung up.

"Who was that?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Tucker. Seems I have my first IAB assignment," Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Oh boy. Who are we looking at?" He asked.

"You mean who  _I'm_  looking at? Last time I checked, you weren't on IAB's payroll," she said.

"We're partners. I'm helping," Elliot told her.

"Officer Kyle Russo out of the one oh five – he was at the crime scene," Olivia shook her head. Tucker had e-mailed her the file and she quickly showed her partner the photo of the cop in question.

"What'd he do?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Tucker says that he's been managing to make tickets disappear," she told him.

"I thought the system wouldn't let us do that anymore," he was surprised.

"Well it seems Kyle is an enterprising young man. Tucker probably wants to know how he's doing it. Hell he might hire the kid," Olivia chuckled.

"An innocuous visit from us tomorrow shouldn't be a big deal then," Elliot smirked.

"Don't see why not. Order me some tacos. I need a shower," she told him.

"Without me?" He asked.

"Time for that later big boy. I just need some standing under the water time," Olivia smiled and hoisted herself off the couch. Elliot couldn't help but watch her walk away.

"The things you do to me woman," he said as she disappeared down the hallway. Grabbing the menu, he quickly called for dinner, hoping that they had time to play afterwards.

Kenny and the Captain had whittled down the pile. If Jesse Müller was killing his customers, it didn't seem like it. Regrettably, if this didn't work they would have to expand the search radius. Luckily the younger detective had managed to keep a separate pile for those cases and wouldn't have to sift back through them again.

"I may have something here," Cragen spoke up.

"What is it?" Kenny wanted to know.

"Eddie Sullivan; multiple arrests for possession and one for driving under the influence. His body was found a block away from Müller's apartment, a bullet in his leg. Detectives at the time figured he'd pissed someone off and they shot him. The lot where the body was found had been abandoned and fenced in by the owner to keep homeless people away. Only reason they found Eddie was because someone complained about the smell. His body was under some plywood that had been left at the sight. The coroner figured he bled to death since the wound missed his femoral artery but was severe enough that walking would have been next to impossible. Rope was found at the scene which was surmised to have been keeping Eddie's wrists together. A sock was found in his throat. He couldn't move, he was under plywood, he couldn't scream. Seems like someone really disliked Eddie," the Captain said.

"Or liked to torture their victim. I'll reach out to the original detectives in the morning," Kenny promised.


	14. Chapter 14

"So what brings you to the one oh five?" The desk sergeant asked after Olivia and Elliot showed him their badges.

"We just need to talk to Officer Russo, he was at our crime scene the other day," Olivia smiled.

"Ah the usual follow up. I'll see if I can get a twenty on Russo. He should be out on patrol," Sergeant Gates smiled back. He ducked back to the precinct's radio and called out to Russo. The voice that came over the radio gave his location; he wasn't far away. Gates told him to hold there and the detectives would be meeting him. Russo promised to do so and quickly Olivia and Elliot thanked the desk sergeant before taking off to meet their target.

"Officer Russo?" Olivia asked as they approached the uniformed man on a corner not far from the crime scene.

"Detectives," he nodded with a smile.

"Mind if we ask you a question or two about the crime scene you helped us with the other day?" Elliot wondered.

"No, although I'm not sure how I can help," Russo admitted.

"Did you notice anyone being overly interested in what was going on? Maybe trying to ask questions?" Olivia wanted to know. Russo thought about it for a minute.

"Actually there was this one guy," he started. What had started as a ruse to get him backed into a corner had maybe actually led them to something that could help with their case.

"Can you describe him?" Olivia asked.

"Do you one better," the officer pulled out his phone and quickly worked to find what he was looking for.

"There he is," Russo flipped his phone around and pointed to the man he was talking about. The photo had been snapped without the man's knowledge, given the angle and the fact that the subject was trying to look at the scene. The nosy person was an older man, wearing a baseball cap, red, blue, and black plaid shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. His boots looked like they'd been through the war – the top was poked up and the tops were bent down around his shins.

"You get his name?" Elliot asked.

"I didn't because I didn't want to spook him. Figured he could be the suspect. So I went to forensics with the photo and asked if they could run facial recognition or maybe go through the DMV and driver's licenses. They told me that only the State Police have access to that database so I was not sure of where to go from here," Russo explained.

"Short of canvassing the neighborhood," Olivia nodded.

"Yeah and I can't canvass all by myself. You want the guy caught without raising suspicion, right?" The officer asked.

"That would be better. Could you send me the photo? We may have someone who could help us," Elliot said.

"Yeah sure," Russo quickly got Elliot's number and sent him the picture. Olivia was feeling bad about what had to come next but Elliot was still running with the ball.

"What did he ask about?" Her partner was curious.

"What did we find, why are the cops blocking the house, given no one lives there, the standard stuff that we all think about but don't actually say. Then he got weird, which is why I wanted to get him identified," Russo said.

"Got weird?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he said I bet that kid did it. Now I had no idea what he was talking about. I mean it sounded like he knew more than everyone else there but no one had been living in the house for a while, so what did he mean by "did it"? When I encountered him, I didn't know that there was a body," the officer told them.

"Ok, one more question, you give out any tickets in the neighborhood near the body?" Olivia asked. She knew the answer but she wanted to see if Russo would start sweating.

"I'd have to check but most of the tickets we hand out around here are parking tickets, nothing exciting," he said. Olivia and Elliot thanked him for his help and asked him to get back to them regarding the tickets, telling him it would give them an avenue to help with identifying the mystery man.

"Didn't even flinch when you asked him," Elliot said as they got back in their car.

"He's either a stone cold liar or there's something bigger at play here," Olivia frowned.


	15. Chapter 15

Kenny heaved a sigh. He was coming up with nothing on the murder of Eddie Sullivan. The original detectives were trying hard to find the murderer but the truth was no one was really missing Eddie and the DNA evidence had been tainted by the body being outside. When he'd mentioned Jesse Müller to the detectives, they had never heard of him. However, they promised to take a look into Eddie's history a little deeper and get back to him.

"Hey Kenny, do you have Beth's phone number?" Elliot wanted to know as he and Olivia walked back into the bullpen.

"I do. Why?" The younger man asked.

"We have a picture of a guy that we'd like her to look at," Olivia said.

"Ok sure. Send me to the picture and I'll send it off to her," Kenny said. Elliot quickly sent the photo via text and Kenny quickly passed it on.

"A lead?" He wanted to know.

"Possibly. One of the unis at the scene thought the guy was a little odd," Olivia said. She'd informed Tucker on their drive back to the precinct that Russo seemed to be cool as a cucumber or they were barking up the wrong tree. He promised to get back to her.

"Well better than nothing, which is what I have on Eddie Sullivan's case," Kenny frowned.

"Either Jesse Müller is either very good or he's very lucky," Elliot shook his head. Before Olivia could say anything else, Fin and Munch came busting into the bullpen dragging Simon Frank with them. Directly behind them were FBI Agents Jeff Rice and Tom Gunning.

"How can you think I killed Sandy?" Simon asked as they hauled him into the interrogation room. Once he was sitting in a chair, they started to question him.

"Well it's quite simple really," Agent Gunning had a smirk.

"You forgot to leave your phone at home while you were murdering her. That and we found your DNA on her toys. Seems her roommate just couldn't get rid of them. She was embarrassed for her friend but not so embarrassed to pick you out of a photo array," Fin said.

"You figured being all kinky in her apartment wasn't enough. You needed a new thrill so you borrow your coworker's keys and his apartment. Only problem was something went wrong and Sandra ended up dead," Munch told him.

"I want a lawyer," Simon shook his head.

"You're going to need one. Killing a postal worker is a federal offense. In case you forgot, we still have the death penalty, and we use it," Agent Rice smirked. Fin hauled the man out of the chair and over to his desk. Simon made his phone call and then he found himself inside the holding cell.

"You think we'll be able to nail his ass to the wall?" Munch wanted to know, concerned that they may have blown their shot.

"He looks like he's going to piss his pants. I think we'll be able to get him into a plea deal. Meantime, we should toss his place and see if there's any more ammo," Gunning said.

"You guys go ahead and we'll handle his lawyer when he gets here," Fin said.

"Good. Let you know if we find anything," Rice winked and the two FBI agents headed out of the precinct. Olivia, Elliot, and Kenny looked at their fellow detectives. They had been quite busy.

"So that went well. You think you really think that this was the only time he did this?" Kenny asked.

"Probably the only body we can pin on him. That'll be the more serious offense compared to breaking and entering. Especially since he didn't steal anything. No MO matches in the FBI database or our database so this was probably an accident, up until he decided to cover it up. How's your case going?" Munch wanted to know.

"Slow and not good," Elliot frowned.

"Maybe not. Beth knows the guy in the photo. A Mr. Vernon Peterson – lives just down the block from the Müllers," Kenny smiled.

"Then we better get a move on," Olivia smiled back.


	16. Chapter 16

"Mr. Peterson, it's the NYPD, please open the door," Olivia called through the front door of the ageing home, this was the third time she was knocking. It was obvious that the owner was trying to stay ahead of the maintenance issues but they were slowly winning the race to the end of the home's life. It was even more obvious that the homeowner should have been home – the old pickup truck in the driveway and lights on in the home.

"Maybe he's out back?" Elliot suggested.

"Could be. Check the fence," she said. He nodded and headed around the side of the home to the wooden fence that led into the backyard.

"Mr. Peterson? Are you out here?" Elliot poked his head over the fence but he saw no one. Then he heard sirens and headed back to his partner.

"Detective Benson? Detective Stabler?" It was Officer Russo and his partner, Officer Tanya Lewandowski.

"Officer Russo? What are you doing here?" Olivia asked.

"We got a call that suspicious people were at Mr. Peterson's house," he said.

"We look suspicious huh?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"I think this neighborhood is a little shook up after the other day. We don't get too many murders here," Tanya spoke up.

"Probably true but Mr. Peterson won't answer the door," Olivia said. Russo shook his head; he could tell something was wrong, along with the detectives.

"I'm going to try the knob. You two go around the back," Elliot told them, unholstering his weapon. Russo and Lewandowski nodded and headed around the back, with the hopes of catching anyone who would try and run or "rabbit".

Elliot cautiously tried the knob and found the door unlocked. He pushed the door in and quickly announced,

"NYPD! Mr. Peterson! Are you home?!" There was no response and they started to search the dining room and then the kitchen. There was no one there but then they reached the basement door, near the entrance to the living room, and on it they noticed a dirty hand print. With the living room obviously empty, Olivia pointed to the hand print and Elliot pulled open the door to the basement. The stairs were poorly illuminated by what appeared to be an exposed forty watt bulb in a fixture bolted to the wall, at the top of the stairs. The two grabbed their flashlights out of their pockets and carefully headed into the dark.

Meanwhile, Officers Russo and Lewandowski had found the back fence door locked. It was an old latch, with no obvious padlock on it, and the gap in between the slats of the wooden door on the fence. Using his collapsible baton, Russo easily lifted up the latch, and the two officers went through the now open door.

A quick sweep of the backyard proved that Mr. Peterson was not there. Russo moved to the patio door and it was unlocked. Now inside the living room, Lewandowski saw the open basement door. The two were about to move toward it when they heard footsteps above them. Russo indicated to his partner to be quiet and they went through the kitchen and the dining room to the stairs that led up to the second floor.

Climbing the carpeted stairs, quietly and carefully, and reached the top and were met with three closed doors – one in front of them, one down the hall to the right, and one down the hall to the left. They strained to hear the movement that they heard earlier. A floorboard creaked down the hall to the right and the two officers converged. Throwing open the door, they found something they weren't expecting.

"Hey buddy. What are you doing up here?" Tanya asked the adorable German Shepard puppy. He could not have been more than a year old and was very friendly, coming right up to them.

"So why would he shut his dog up in this room?" Kyle wondered as he checked the rest of the room. It was empty, save for the urine stain on the carpet. The dog had been there awhile.

"I have no idea but he is so sweet," Tanya said. The puppy had already flopped over and let her rub his belly.

"Yup, big ferocious guard dog, this one," her partner chuckled as he jerked his head toward the hallway. The partners checked the other rooms on the floor – another bedroom and a full bathroom – both were empty. They headed back down the stairs with the puppy following them.

"You guys made a friend huh?" Olivia smirked as the pair entered the kitchen to find the detectives climbing out of the basement.

"We found him shut up in the bedroom upstairs. He'd been there awhile too," Kyle frowned.

"Well there's a dirty hand print on the basement door and one of the windows in the basement has been broken. Someone was here and now they aren't. Since this little guy wouldn't harm a fly, I'm guessing that his owner wasn't the one that put him in the bedroom," Elliot said.

"So why would someone break in here and take Mr. Peterson?" Tanya wondered.

"You thought he was weird and asking too many questions. Maybe our missing kids' families had the same thought?" Olivia shook her head.

"Call it in. We need forensics and a missing person alert to the tristate area," Elliot said.

"On it," Tanya went for her shoulder radio and called it in.

"Who called it in?" Olivia asked Russo.

"Not sure. Dispatch just sent us out to the address. Maybe TARU could get a back trace?" He wondered.

"Get them on it," Olivia nodded. Russo quickly grabbed his radio and called it in.

"This neighborhood is coming apart at the seams. What are we missing? Did Jesse have a partner? Or were you right and the missing kids' families take action into their own hands?" Elliot wondered.

"Well we're only two houses down from the crime scene. If Beth could identify the old man, so could anyone else who used to live here," his partner pointed out.

"Once the scene is secured, we better talk to the neighbors," Elliot said.


	17. Chapter 17

"Yes, I called the local precinct. What happened next door?" Mr. Peterson's neighbor, Molly Duke asked when she opened her front door, seeing the detectives flash their badges and introduce themselves.

"Can we ask what you saw?" Olivia wanted to know, deflecting, and making a mental note that the woman was still dressed in pajamas.

"Please come in," Molly said. She was shorter than Olivia but about her age, so Elliot wondered how she afforded the home on one income, given that she appeared to live by herself. The house was in great condition for its age, which meant that she was taking care of it. They took a seat in the living room; the house was laid out much like Mr. Peterson's. After they declined something to drink, Molly started explaining herself.

"The only reason I'm home today is because I woke up with a nasty case of vertigo, otherwise, I wouldn't have seen anything," she admitted.

"Are you all right? Do you need medical assistance?" Elliot quickly asked, concerned about her well-being. It could color what she saw and her reaction time.

"There isn't much that can be done about vertigo. I just do my exercises and try to drain the liquid out of my ears with powerful sinus medication. Can't really drive a car with the world spinning. Problem is, it can take hours to clear, and by then, trying to head into the office is pointless," Molly told them.

"What did you see next door? I would imagine you'd be trying to sit down for most of the day," Olivia asked.

"I was sitting in here, on the recliner, in the dark, trying to not move too much. I must have nodded off at some point because I woke up a little while later with a crick in my neck. I got up headed into the kitchen, when I saw a car parked out front, which I did not recognize. So I headed for the front door, glad that the lights were off in the dining room. I saw two men leave the car and head for Mr. Peterson's house. His pickup truck was in the driveway so I figured he was home and must know these guys. Not normally being home at that hour during the week, I didn't really think much of it, at first," Molly admitted.

"So what changed your mind?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"The fact that Mr. Peterson never answered the door when the two men rang the doorbell. I knew that Mr. Peterson wasn't out in the backyard because when he's tinkering out there, you can always hear him. I wouldn't have been able to take the nap I did with the noise that he makes," the woman chuckled a little bit, her layered chestnut hair fell down in her face and she brushed it aside.

"That bad huh?" Olivia asked.

"If he's not running the lawn mower at eight am, he's chopping firewood, or swearing at the chipmunks that refuse to stay out of his garden. One time I caught him on the back patio watching a pile of peanuts out in the yard, holding a BB gun. To be honest, I think that's why he got Hugo," Molly chuckled again. Olivia almost laughed herself.

"Hugo?" Elliot asked.

"The adorable puppy he got. Not much of a ferocious dog but he does seem to help with the chipmunks," Molly explained.

"So you called the police because you figured he fell down or something and couldn't greet the men at the door," Olivia said.

"Yes. Hugo isn't much of a barker, so I wasn't sure if maybe Mr. Peterson took him for a walk but then I wondered if there was something worse going on. So I called them suspicious; figuring you guys would get here quicker than you did, especially after what they found at the Müller house," she admitted.

"Well we were here for a different reason. The officers on the scene seemed to think that Mr. Peterson knew something about what happened at the Müller home," Olivia told her.

"Could be. The folks owned this house before they willed it to me. After college, I was got my own place but a few years ago, my parents passed, and I got the house," Molly said.

"They weren't that old," Olivia had a frown on her face.

"Don't get me started. I'm still angry," the woman told them. It was obviously a sore subject and Olivia made a mental note to check into why she'd be so angry.

"So can you give a description of the car and the two men for us? Hopefully we can make sure that those guys don't come around here again," Elliot said.

"I'll do you one better. I wrote down the plate number as they drove away. It was an older blue Ford Focus," Molly carefully stood up from her chair and headed into the kitchen where she scooped up a piece of paper. She came back and handed it to Olivia. On it was not only the plate number but also a quick description of both men and what they were wearing.

"Wow," Olivia said.

"I'm an engineer, we're a tad obsessive about details," she smirked.

"Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, please call me or my partner," Elliot handed her their business cards as they stood up.

"Ok will do. What happened to Mr. Peterson? Is he ok?" Molly asked.

"We don't know. He wasn't home. Hugo was all by himself," Olivia told her.

"He would never leave Hugo home by himself, unless he was outside," the woman said.

"What do you mean?" Elliot was confused.

"Hugo likes to chew, as puppies do. So usually, if Mr. Peterson was going to go out, he puts Hugo outside so the furniture doesn't take a beating," Molly explained.

"We saw no signs of chewing when we went into the house," Olivia said.

"Odd. Maybe that lemon spray that Mr. Peterson bought worked. Apparently, dogs don't like lemon so he figured that it would stop Hugo from chewing. What will happen to Hugo? I'm not sure Mr. Peterson has any family," Molly told them.

"Well we were going to have Animal Control take him," Elliot told her as they reached the front door.

"I'll take the little guy, if that's ok. I can't picture him at a shelter," Molly shook her head.

"We'll let you know if that'll work," Olivia smiled and the two detectives headed out the door. Molly's words bothered them. Where was Mr. Peterson? Who were those two men and why were they there? More mysteries instead of answers, which was something that bothered them both.


	18. Chapter 18

"So, I checked into the license plate that Molly gave us. She was right. It belongs to a twenty-ten blue Ford Focus. Regrettably, that car belongs to a rental company, so I put in a call to the place. They wouldn't give me the info over the phone, so are you up for a drive?" Elliot asked. They'd returned to the precinct, now with a missing persons case on their hands.

"Give me a minute and then I'll be all set," Olivia was tapping away on the keyboard and her partner gave her a look.

"What are you looking up?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Molly seemed very upset about her parents, which ordinarily wouldn't be surprising. What I thought was surprising was her anger," Olivia admitted.

"It was a bit of an odd reaction, but anger is one of the steps of grief so…" he trailed off.

"While true, I didn't get that feeling. She cares about her elderly neighbor and his dog almost like they were family but talk about her own family and she gives us that reaction. If she needs help, then we should help," something deep down was bothering her, Elliot could tell.

"Found it," Olivia broke his thoughts.

"What did you find?" Elliot asked.

"Samantha and Bruce Duke, died in a single car crash, three years ago. Autopsy revealed that Bruce was drunk, while Samantha was completely sober," Olivia heaved a sigh.

"Why wouldn't Samantha have taken his keys?" her partner couldn't believe it.

"Says here that Bruce was just over six-foot-tall and bordering on three hundred pounds. Samantha was only five and half feet tall and close to two hundred pounds. She never would have stood a chance, especially if he had beer muscles," Olivia shook her head. Her own mother was unbearable when she was drunk, and she wasn't nearly as tall or as heavy as Bruce Duke.

"So, Molly basically views it like her father killed her mother," Elliot nodded.

"He did. He was only thinking about himself and in so doing destroyed everything," Olivia stood up and grabbed her coat.

"Come on. Let's track down that rental car," she said, her mood souring. Elliot said nothing as they headed out to the car. On their way out, they passed Munch and Fin with Agents Rice and Gunning coming into the precinct. The search of Simon Frank's apartment had been quite enlightening.

"Find something interesting? Liv and Elliot's case took another weird turn today," Kenny said to them.

"They need some help?" Fin asked.

"It's definitely a more than two detective job," Cragen nodded, he'd come out of his office after seeing the FBI agents with his detectives.

"Well given what we found, I think we can confidently take Simon off your hands," Agent Rice told the detectives.

"Your case will get him the most time. Maybe he'll crumple like a hankie now that we have all of those photos," Munch said.

"He took photos? Were you able to confirm that the other girls were still alive?" Kenny asked.

"Luckily, they're all just embarrassed. Spoke to Casey, she's not interested in charging the women with breaking and entering, especially since we were able to get all of the addresses, they borrowed. Simon's coworkers will definitely be pissed when they find out. As for the photos, things I probably could have lived a lifetime without seeing. Let's just say they liked being tied up," Fin shook his head.

"Yeah I probably don't need to see the photos," Kenny said. They saw a lot in this job but if they could protect themselves from something, they would.

"So, the death of Sandra Berry was what, an accident?" Captain Cragen cocked an eyebrow.

"Maybe, until he tried to cover it up. Technically, her death occurred in the commission of a felony but that might be a stretch since we have no proof Simon stole anything," Agent Gunning frowned.

"Technically, he stole the keys. None of the apartments that they went into were forcibly entered or lock picked, so the argument could be made that he stole keys to make entry. Then he used the apartment for his adrenaline fix," Kenny suggested.

"We'll see how it plays. He's going down, no matter what. Thanks for all of your help," Agent Rice smiled.

"Thank you. Let us know if you need anything else," Captain Cragen said. The FBI agents nodded and shook hands before heading out.

"So, what have Liv and Elliot gotten themselves into?" Fin asked once Rice and Gunning had left.

"It's a long story," Kenny started.


	19. Chapter 19

"I'm Detective Stabler; this is my partner Detective Benson. I had called earlier regarding that blue Ford Focus," Elliot said as the detectives flashed their badges at the car rental place's front counter.

"Ah yes. Nice to put a voice with a face. I've printed out the forms," the clerk, whose name badge read 'Jim', said. He retrieved them off the printer and handed them over to the two.

"Much appreciated. You take the original reservation?" Elliot asked as Olivia looked at the driver's license picture.

"I did. He called in over the phone. Hard to miss that accent," Jim told them.

"I bet. The driver's license is from Alabama," Olivia smirked.

"Is it usual to get reservations over the phone?" Elliot wondered.

"For our out of towners, yes. We take their info and then when they actually come in, we do as we're required," Jim explained.

"Did he say what they were up here doing?" Olivia was hoping for a chatty Cathy as it were.

"Looking for family believe it or not. Some sort of DNA kit match from what I gathered," the clerk smiled slightly.

"Isn't technology grand? When are they due to bring the vehicle back in?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Two more days," Jim said.

"Ok great. If they come in early or anything weird happens, give us a call?" Olivia asked. She handed over one of her cards and Elliot handed over one of his.

"Sure will do," Jim smiled again and the two detectives headed back out to their car.

"Didn't Molly say that she didn't think Peterson had any family?" Elliot gave her partner a look as they climbed into the car.

"She did. Maybe the DNA kit was a ruse?" Olivia frowned.

"Or it's legit and Molly said that because no one ever comes to visit her neighbor," Elliot said.

"Good point. What is the likelihood that family would show up at the same time, Peterson disappears?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Molly didn't see them try and enter the house. Maybe what happened actually happened the night before and no one noticed," Elliot shook his head as he pulled back into traffic. Olivia's phone rang and she quickly picked it up.

"Benson," she replied. Elliot continued to head toward the precinct, noticing that she wasn't talking and just listening.

"Ok great. We'll be right there. Thanks Russo," she finally said before hanging up.

"Russo? You're new buddy?" Elliot inquired without taking his eyes off the road.

"Head toward Peterson's house. Our visitors from Alabama just showed up at the house and Russo and the officers detained them. I'm putting in a call to Kenny so he can run a background check on our driver's license guy," Olivia told him. She quickly punched in the digits on her phone and waited for Kenny to pick up. Elliot turned on the sirens and swung the car around in traffic.

Twenty minutes later, the two pulled up in front of Peterson's house. Hopping out of the car, they found Russo and his partner Lewandowski, walking up to them. After quick greetings, Russo pointed to the front steps of the house where the two men were sitting, handcuffed together.

"What is going on? Why can't we go?" The one on the left asked.

"We need to confirm a few things. Mr. Peterson is missing," Elliot flashed his badge and Olivia flashed hers.

"I'm Christopher Meader and this is my cousin, Billy Morrison. We're here to see if Vernon Peterson was part of our family. That DNA kit said so but we figured we'd see for ourselves," the one on the left explained.

"Uh huh. So who would Vernon be to you?" Olivia asked.

"A grandpa; my mother's father, to be more specific. You see she left the city a long time ago but never talked about him to me. Billy figured he'd come along to see the city," Christopher told them.

"Aunt Rose never talked about him much. We figured he was dead until we tried that ancestry website. Then the DNA kit tied us to Vernon," Billy spoke up.

"Ok. Well I think you two should come down to the precinct with us," Elliot said. The officers helped the two men up and into the back of the unmarked sedan.


	20. Chapter 20

"I hate to say it but it looks like Christopher and Billy check out," Kenny said to Captain Cragen and handed him a file. The older man was watching Elliot interrogate Christopher while Olivia was interrogating Billy with Munch watching closely. Cragen quickly opened the file and read what Kenny had found.

"Neither man has a record and you used the login info they gave you to check their account?" The Captain asked.

"I did. Christopher and Billy's DNA didn't pop in the system and neither did their fingerprints. The ancestry site login was verified by the company and I was able to login with the info they gave me. Seems Rose Meader is in fact the daughter of Vernon Peterson. Vernon's wife, Polly, well that is a different story…" Kenny trailed off.

"Polly Peterson, good grief, that poor woman," Cragen shook his head.

"Poor woman is right. She was murdered, in the same time frame as our child victim," Kenny handed him a second file and the Captain's eyebrows went up.

"What's the likelihood that a little kid and a wife get murdered not only in the same neighborhood but next door to one another?" Don wanted know.

"Has to be a billion to one sir," Kenny said.

"All right, pull Elliot and Olivia out. We need to have the cousins in the same room and go over what we've found," Cragen ordered. The Captain headed to the murder board and stood in front of it, lost in thought.

"What is it Cap?" Fin asked.

"See if you can find the original detective on this case. The picture I'm forming in my head is not a pretty one," Cragen told his detective as he handed him the file.

"On it," Fin nodded and started to dig into the computer records.

"What's going on?" Elliot didn't like to be pulled out of an interrogation. Billy has been shuffled to the same interrogation room as his cousin, everyone convinced they had nothing to do with anything.

"We've walked into a heaping pile," the Captain quickly explained.

"Good God," Elliot shook his head.

"So do we think Polly was murdered by her husband or by Jesse Müller?" Olivia wanted to know.

"That's the problem. Polly was found dead in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night. We have no idea what she was doing out there but according to the medical examiner's report, it appeared she'd been hit by a car," Kenny said.

"Jesse wouldn't have been old enough to drive a car," Munch raised an eyebrow.

"Yes but according to Vernon, he was working late, and wasn't around when it happened," Kenny pointed out.

"So the guy who would have been the mostly likely suspect wasn't even home?" Olivia didn't believe it. The time of death was labeled as between eleven pm and one am. What job did Vernon have that would keep him out that late, even if he was working late.

"His alibi checked out. The factory Vernon was working at was making everyone pull mandatory overtime. He worked the three pm to eleven pm shift and the overtime shift was four hours. His coworkers verified that he hadn't left until the supervisor got the call that there had been an accident," Kenny explained.

"So we're thinking that Jesse ran Polly down to cover up for the murder of the kid we found?" Elliot wondered.

"But then who went after Vernon? Why is he missing?" Munch wanted to know. Olivia grabbed her phone as it buzzed. Quickly answering it, she had a short conversation.

"Who was that?" Cragen asked when she hung up.

"Forensics. They matched fingerprints at Vernon's house to a Manny Cruz. Seems Manny has been tied to Jesse Müller," Olivia told them.

"Pick him up," the Captain ordered.


	21. Chapter 21

"Manny come on now. You expect us to believe that you have no idea how your prints ended up at a missing person's house?" Olivia asked, from her seat across the table from the suspect. She and Elliot had found Mr. Cruz on a street corner in the middle of a weed buy. They busted him and the dealer, with the help of Narcotics. Now they sat in interrogation, with the whole team watching in the other room.

"Why would I kidnap this guy? I don't even know him!" Manny argued.

"Well see we know that you know Jesse Müller," Elliot said, trying to gauge the suspect's reaction. The detective was pacing back and forth behind his partner and it was making the suspect nervous. Elliot could see Manny swallowing hard – they had him.

"I don't know nothing about nothing," Mr. Cruz weakly tried to remain calm and refute their assumptions but Olivia could see the sweat beginning to bead up on his brow.

"He scares you, doesn't he?" Olivia pressed as she leaned across the table. Manny looked as if weighing his options by looking at her and then at Elliot, who had stopped pacing and was now staring at the man.

"You have to help me," he said, breaking quite easily.

"Why would we do that?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Because I can't go back to jail, I just can't," Manny pleaded with them.

"We caught you red handed buying pot on the corner. Weed still isn't legal so…" Olivia reminded him that he was still in a bind.

"What I have is a lot worse than a little bit of pot," Manny said. It was at this point, both detectives wondered if Manny would lawyer up.

"What do you have?" Olivia leaned back in her chair.

"Say there was no kidnapping. Say I just borrowed Mr. Vernon," he started.

"Borrowed? You break his window too?" Elliot leaned over the table.

"Well we had to make it look good," Manny said.

"Make it look good? All right. Back up Manny. What are you saying?" Olivia gave him a look.

"You have to understand. I had no idea how batshit crazy Jesse was. I really didn't," Mr. Cruz said.

"You just got some of his product every now and then, huh?" Elliot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I enjoyed what he was selling, yeah. Then Eddie Sullivan turned up dead," Manny started.

"You knew Eddie?" Olivia gave him a look.

"Lots of people knew Eddie but they knew better than to speak out when he popped up dead. You see, he owed a good chunk of change to Jesse. One day he goes to beg for more time and the next thing we all know, Eddie's dead. Everyone made sure they paid up on time after that," Manny said.

"I bet," Elliot said.

"So you can imagine my surprise when I get a call from Jesse the other day. Even more surprise of what he was asking me to do," the suspect told them.

"He called you? He's under arrest already," Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"I guess his one phone call was to try and clear some things up. He asked me to take care of Mr. Vernon. When I asked him what he meant and who he meant, he gave me the address, and said to make sure that Vernon met Eddie," Manny explained.

"So you took it to mean…" Elliot trailed off.

"That I whack him. Now I'm no killer but I figured if it got back to Jesse that I hadn't done anything… well he'd call someone else to do the job and add my name to the list," Manny said.

"So what'd you do?" Olivia wanted to know.

"I went over to Mr. Vernon's and quickly explained to him that we were both in trouble and that we needed to get him out of there. He wanted to take his puppy but my landlord doesn't allow animals. I figured that I couldn't hide him but that someone would notice if the dog hadn't been out. We faked breaking his window. Then I took him back to my place so I could think," Manny admitted.

"Mr. Peterson just went with you?" Elliot was finding this hard to believe.

"He's no dummy. He knows what Jesse is capable of," Manny said.

"We have to check this out," Olivia told him.

"Do whatcha gotta do. Mr. Vernon is safe at my place," Manny told them. Elliot and Olivia left the interrogation room and closed the door.

"Do we believe him?" Elliot asked.

"It's too stupid to make up," Fin said.

"He doesn't have any violent felonies on his rap sheet. Just possession and jaywalking," Kenny said.

"Well we have no idea how else Manny would have known about Vernon. Check out Manny's apartment. If he's lying, we'll know soon enough," Captain Cragen ordered. Quickly Olivia, Elliot, Fin, and Munch were on their way. Kenny's focus turned toward the original detective on Polly Peterson's case. Fin had found the now retired detective, Ron Walden. Walden had agreed to come in and talk to Kenny and would be to the precinct shortly.

"Let's hope we can wrap this up quickly before someone else gets hurt," Cragen said to Kenny before he ducked back into his office.


	22. Chapter 22

"Hi Detective Walden," Kenny stuck out his hand and the older, African American man, shook it.

"Please just call me Ron. I haven't been a detective in almost seven years now," the elder man smiled. Quickly, they took a seat on chairs at Kenny's desk and started to go over everything.

"Of course. Thanks for stopping by. We have some information that might lead to Polly Peterson's killer and wanted to run a few things by you," Briscoe said.

"That poor woman. I'll never forget the look on Vernon's face when he arrived on the scene," Ron shook his head.

"Anything that you can remember that maybe didn't make it into the report would be helpful," Kenny hoped there was more to the case.

"As you well know, the husband was our first suspect but he had a legit alibi. So the next thought was that there had to be blood and damage to the car that was used. We put out alerts to every vehicle shop in the tristate area, nothing ever popped. However, as I'm sure you noticed, we found a couple of cars that were burned beyond recognition in the weeks that followed the murder so it could have been one of them," Ron heaved a sigh.

"Pretty much a dead end," Kenny said.

"Pretty much but there was one thing that always bothered me and my partner," Ron told him.

"What was that?" The younger man wanted to know.

"The Peterson's neighbors were a weird bunch. The son creeped me out. It was like he was watching us. We asked them if they'd see anything but they said no. Yet somehow the dad got a new car a few weeks after Mrs. Peterson was killed," the older man said

"What happened to the old car?" Kenny asked.

"Said that it was stolen and the insurance payment had finally come through. The story checked out so we figured the guy stealing it probably hit poor Polly, and then burned it. VIN numbers couldn't be matched because of how badly those cars burned," Ron told him.

"Why was Polly out in the road in the first place?" Kenny frowned.

"We never figured that out. Rose Peterson was in bed when her mother was killed. Poor kid had a fight with her mom that night before she died," the former detective said.

"Thanks for coming in. I do appreciate it," the young detective smiled slightly.

"No problem. Hopefully you catch the bastard," Ron said as he stood up.

"Hopefully we can," Kenny said as he too stood up. He saw the man off and then quickly grabbed the phone and punched in a number that everyone in the unit knew.

"Doctor Huang, can I bend your ear for a few minutes?" Kenny hoped the FBI agent could help him with an idea that he had.

Meanwhile, Olivia knocked on the apartment door. They heard a voice from the other side of the door asking who it was. Olivia quickly identified the group as NYPD and they wanted to talk. Soon they heard the deadbolt being slid over and the door opened.

"You're here for me aren't you? What happened to Manny?" The older man asked.

"Mr. Peterson? Can we come inside?" Olivia wanted to know.

"I don't think Manny will mind. Though you can't use anything in his apartment against him. He was just trying to help," Vernon said.

"We aren't trying to get Manny in trouble. We're trying to find out if he kidnapped you," Elliot said. Mr. Peterson offered the detectives seats in the living room. Fin looked around the room. There was no evidence of Vernon having ever been tied up or anything else.

"He didn't kidnap me. He told me all about Jesse. I figured it was safer to come with him than to stay home. I didn't like leaving Hugo at home but Manny knew he couldn't bring him here. How is Hugo? What about Manny?" Vernon wanted to know.

"Hugo is with your neighbor, Molly. He's safe," Olivia told him.

"Molly is a good kid. She's been through a lot," Vernon nodded.

"That she has but we're more worried about you. Why'd you believe Manny and come with him?" Munch spoke up.

"The look in the boy's eyes was all I needed. I heard about Jesse's arrest on the news. You finally going to nail him for killing poor little Mary Schmidt?" Vernon asked.


	23. Chapter 23

"You'll have to forgive us but you knew? All this time?" Elliot gave the older man a look.

"I had no proof, only suspicion. He was a kid; would anyone have believed me back then?" Vernon asked.

"Probably not," Munch spoke up.

"It wasn't until the neighborhood cats started winding up dead, that I grew concerned about Jesse. He always seemed to be around when another kid found the poor creatures' bodies. So he either knew they were there because he found them first or he put them there. When poor Mary Schmidt from down the block went missing, cops and neighbors alike tore the neighborhood apart. We only ever found her bike and helmet; like she'd ditched them because someone wanted to play off of the pavement. Jesse was never part of the searches and his sister, Beth, was best friends with Mary. She bawled her eyes out for weeks. I figured that since Mary knew Jesse, she would have listened to him if he suggested that he and Beth were going to play somewhere," Vernon heaved a sigh.

"Lure her out to wherever he killed her and then buried her in the backyard," Olivia swallowed. That patch of dirt that Beth assumed held a cat had in fact held her best friend Mary.

"You think your wife knew something?" Fin wanted to know.

"I had shared my suspicions with her but she never said anything about seeing Jesse near Mary," Vernon explained.

"Well I think we'd better get you back to the precinct and then make sure we check with the Lab," Munch said.

"Agreed. Let's go," Elliot nodded. Vernon made sure that they locked Manny's front door and then they quickly headed back down to the standard issued unmarked cars. Olivia put a call into the lab and Elliot maneuvered their car through the New York City traffic. Munch and Fin had taken Vernon in their car and headed directly back to the precinct.

"Detective Benson, I was just about to call you," Chuck Bennett had answered the phone.

"Good thing that I called you then," Benson said.

"The results are in…" Chuck started.

"Do they match Mary Schmidt?" Olivia interrupted him.

"They do. How'd you…" Chuck was once again interrupted.

"It's been a weird day. Thanks for confirming everything. We'll deliver the news to the parents," she told him.

"Hopefully that will be some comfort. There are a number of families who will still have to wait for closure," Chuck said.

"Unfortunately, that is true. Thanks again Chuck," with that the phone call ended and Olivia told her partner what he already knew.

"Let Cragen know that we're heading to see Mary's parents. I don't want them finding out before we get a chance to say anything," Elliot said. Olivia nodded. The parents had waited long enough for the truth; they should not wait any longer.

"I hate this part of the job," Elliot gripped the steering wheel as Olivia quickly called the Captain. Cragen agreed that they should go ahead.

"This part of the job is definitely not my favorite. The worst part is that we both know that Mrs. Schmidt was still hoping that Mary was alive. Mr. Schmidt was a little more realistic but that isn't going to make the news any better. My only concern is, how are we going to make sure Jesse gets convicted? Vernon said that he only had suspicions," she said.

"But Jesse obviously thought that Vernon saw something…" Elliot's gears were turning. He had an idea.


	24. Chapter 24

"You think that'll play?" Cragen wondered once Elliot pitched his idea to the team.

"The only way we're tying Jesse to this is if we get him to confess. There's no DNA or anything other than the fact that poor Mary was found in the Müller's backyard. We have Beth's stories regarding his behavior and Manny but with no physical evidence, Jesse will be out after his drug charges," the detective said.

"He's right. This might be the only way to nail this bastard," Munch agreed.

"Ok. We'll give it a go. Where the hell is Kenny?" Cragen wanted to know. He realized that the young detective had just missed the entire conversation.

"I'll call him," Fin offered.

"I'll call Casey. Since Jesse lawyered up, she'll need to be in on the meeting," Olivia said before grabbing her cell phone.

"Once we have this all set up, go home. Tomorrow is going to be a big day and I want everyone ready for it," the Captain ordered. The older man then headed into his office.

"Casey said she'll contact Jesse's lawyer. She hopes that talks of a possible plea deal will be enough of a ruse. She said that she put in a phone call to corrections and they are sending the tapes of the phone calls made for the time window that Manny gave us. With any luck, we'll have Jesse's exact words to throw in his face," Olivia explained when she got off the phone a few minutes later.

"Well it may not be an exact instruction, I think it might be enough to make his lawyer nervous," Elliot nodded.

"Kenny went out to meet Huang. Something about the case he's working on. He said he had a hunch," Fin said as he hung up.

"Hunch that would help us nail Jesse for Eddie Sullivan's death?" Munch wondered.

"He hopes so but he wouldn't give me any more details," his partner told him.

"If he doesn't need any backup, then I'm heading home," Elliot said.

"Doesn't sound like it. I told him about the possibility of a meeting tomorrow and he said he thought he'd be ready," Fin shrugged.

"That sounds like an endorsement for running away while we still can," Munch chuckled and grabbed his jacket. Olivia headed for her desk when her phone rang. She heaved a sigh and looked down at the phone. Heaving another sigh, she opened the phone and walked out of the bullpen.

"What was that about?" Fin raised an eyebrow.

"I have no idea," Elliot said, which wasn't entirely true. He had a feeling it was Tucker, checking in. On the inside, he was pouting because he had hoped the two could have a nice quiet night together. Munch and Fin packed up and started heading out when Olivia headed back inside the bullpen.

"Everything ok?" The elder detective asked.

"The water is on the fritz at my place," Olivia frowned.

"What happened?" Fin wanted to know.

"Apparently, the water heater replacement this morning didn't go as planned. Water won't be back up for at least another hour," she explained.

"Bummer. Must mean we should head to the bar," Fin suggested.

"I'm heading to the store. Might as well pick up some bottled water in case it takes longer than an hour," Olivia said.

"Good point. See you in the morning," with that Fin and Munch took off. Elliot came up to her with her coat in his hands.

"Tucker?" He asked.

"Tucker," she nodded.


	25. Chapter 25

"So you felt it necessary to bring your partner along huh?" Tucker asked once the two had arrived at his office.

"Figured it couldn't hurt. What do you want?" Olivia wanted to know as she and Elliot took seats in the chairs across from the IAB Lieutenant's desk.

"Well we did some more digging on Russo and it seems that you were right. Something hinky is going on," Tucker said.

"What kind of hinky?" Elliot asked.

"We had TARU track the transactions. While they were indeed being made from a terminal that Russo had access to, none of the names trace back to Russo. With no link, we began to wonder if someone was using his login info, in an effort to hide their tracks. Problem is we don't know who. It would take months to run every name through the other officers' files," Tucker explained.

"So you want me to squeeze Russo?" Olivia didn't want to blow her cover.

"I want your opinion on his partner. That's the only other person I can figure that would know his login info," Ed said.

"His partner seemed like a good officer. We never asked her about the tickets though. She wasn't the focus of our investigation," Elliot spoke up.

"'Our' investigation huh?" Ed gave him a look.

"What? I'm not going to help my partner?" Elliot gave him a look right back.

"All right boys. We'll call Russo and Lewandowski into the precinct. We're having Jesse Müller come into the precinct tomorrow. It'll look like we're just nailing some stuff down," Olivia said.

"Sounds good. If we find anything on Lewandowski in the meantime, I'll let you know," Tucker told them.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled and then stood up. Elliot followed suit and they said goodbye to the Lieutenant. The drive toward Elliot's place was quiet, mostly because Olivia was deep in thought and he could tell that something was bothering her.

Once they were inside his place, the pizza ordered, Olivia plopped down on the couch. The kids were with Kathy tonight so things were quiet. Elliot handed her a beer before sitting himself down next to her. His hand went to her thigh and he moved it up and down from just above her knee to just below her hip, causing her skin to have goosebumps. They hadn't had a night together in a little while and tonight would be a good night to just feel – remind each other what the past years had meant to them.

"That's the pizza," the door buzzer rang and Elliot set his beer down. Olivia hadn't even realized that it had been over thirty minutes of her just staring off into space. She also realized that Elliot hadn't bothered her, just waited for her, not pushing her.

"Don't know about you but I'm starving," he said, placing the pizza box down on the coffee table. He then disappeared back into the kitchen, grabbing some napkins and paper plates.

"Sorry I zoned out there," Olivia said.

"Hey, no worries. There's a lot going on. I don't want to add more to it but the Müller house was released as a crime scene. Not sure if anyone would want to buy it now but the auctioneer left a message for me. I didn't want to call him back and tell him we're still game, if we weren't," Elliot told her as he doled out the pizza.

"There was so much pain in that house. We can't afford to knock it down and start over," Olivia said. He knew what she meant. The walls were haunted by everything that Jesse Müller had done and the family that was damaged because of it. Even the yard wasn't a place of happy memories. If they failed to nail Jesse to the wall, they'd forever be reminded of that failure, living in the house that once housed a murderer.

"We can change that image. We can fill that house with love," Elliot told her.

"I don't need a house to love you and the kids but we do need a house for them to have their own space in. Tell them we're still interested. Worst comes to worst, we lose the auction," Olivia said.

"You're sure? If you really don't want to, we can look for another place," he had to throw the idea out there, even though this was the only way they could afford a house in that neighborhood.

"Yes. Do it. Just promise me that we nail Jesse to the wall tomorrow," she gave him a look.

"You got it," Elliot pulled out his phone and made the call.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that everyone is having a great holiday season.

"All right Casey, what are you offering?" Jesse Müller's lawyer, Stephen Pepper, wanted to know. Jesse was chained to the table, despite the lawyer's objections.

"Well I was going to offer a plea to the drugs, but we have a little problem. You see Rikers records those phone calls that inmates make," Casey pulled out a tape recorder from her coat pocket and placed it on the table.

"What does that have to do with anything? He only called me and that you can't use against him," Pepper pointed out.

"Yeah, he had more than one phone call and he didn't just call you," Casey pressed the "play" button and the recording came on,

" _Manny, I need you to do something for me,_ _"_

" _Why can't you do it yourself?"_  Manny was feeling bold for a moment or two.

" _I need you to take care of Vernon Peterson,"_

" _Take care of?"_ Manny asked.

_"Make sure he meets Eddie Sullivan. You got a pen and paper? Write down the address. No screw ups. You know what happens when people screw up_ ," Casey hit stop on the recorder.

"I'm not sure what you heard on there, but I don't hear anything that can't be explained away," Pepper spoke up.

"Well when the jury hears that Eddie Sullivan is dead, I think that they will put two and two together. Worse still when I mention that the reason Jesse wanted Vernon to meet Eddie was because Vernon knows that Jesse killed a little girl called Mary Schmidt, well then…" Casey just let the thought hang there.

"You have proof that my client killed Eddie Sullivan? Because if not, it's just knowledge that he knew someone was dead," Pepper wasn't biting.

"See he contracted Manny out to kill Vernon Peterson. Doesn't matter if Jesse killed Eddie Sullivan or not. That's a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Then we add the murder of Mary Schmidt and your client is looking at life behind bars. He cops to the murder of Mary and the conspiracy to commit murder of Vernon, I drop the weed charges and maybe we let the murder of Eddie Sullivan drop by the wayside. That's only twenty-five to life instead of life without parole. A pretty sweet deal," Casey tried to see if an offer would fly. Pepper had a look on his face, unsure why Casey was feeling so generous.

"Look, you want to spend the next three years in court? I can only try the conspiracy and the murder of Mary Schmidt together. Three separate trials are a lot of time and fees that your client would have to pay to you – the money might sound nice up until Jesse can't pay anymore. Course that sword cuts both ways. Once Jesse is out of money, he'll get some poor overworked, underpaid court appointed attorney, who hasn't had the time to go through the mountains of evidence we have. You'll get convicted and then spend time in jail trying to prove your innocence," she laid it on thick. There was a knock on the door and Casey bade the person to enter.

"Sorry to interrupt but I have something you're going to want to see Miss Novak," Kenny said.

"Want to share with the class?" Casey wanted to know, confident whatever it was, wouldn't be damaging to their current meeting.

"A letter from the DEA. They have picked up Jesse's supplier. Seems that they want to handle Jesse's drug case now as part of a drug trafficking ring," Kenny said. He handed the letter over to the ADA who looked at it.

"Well that means I can't touch the drug charge. Deal still stands. Jesse can serve his twenty-five to life and then the Feds can sink their teeth into him after we make a deal," the redhead said, handing the letter over to Stephen Pepper. Throughout the entire exchange, Jesse had been quiet which had surprised everyone, but no one wanted to question it.

"I need to talk to my client," Pepper said. Casey nodded and she and Kenny scooted out of the room. Once the door closed, the ADA turned to Kenny.

"Where did you get that letter?" She wanted to know.

"Dr. Huang has a friend in the DEA. He promised to help us out. Though they weren't kidding. Worst comes to worst; Jesse is going down for the drug charges. Narcotics is talking a joint operation to take down a ring that starts in Texas and the product lands in New York," Kenny explained.

"Ah an honest to goodness door number two. Well done Kenny," Elliot clapped him on the back.

"You think that he bought it?" Olivia wondered looking through the window.

"I think that no matter what he does, he's staring down the barrel of a long sentence. That letter in on legit letterhead. Even if he isn't sure that I can nail him on Mary's murder, we have him dead to rights on the conspiracy. We've got him backed into a corner, thanks to Manny having a conscience and Kenny's bright idea," Casey said.

"What are we going to do with Manny?" Munch asked.

"Nothing. Vernon came along with him willingly. No harm came to Vernon. Manny is a hero, as far as I can figure," Casey said. Olivia nudged her friend as Stephen Pepper was coming to the door.

"Moment of truth," the redhead said.


	27. Chapter 27

"You wanted to see us?" Officer Russo asked as he and his partner, Officer Lewandowski, walked into the bullpen toward Olivia's desk.

"Wanted to tell you in person that Jesse Müller copped to everything," she smiled at the two patrol officers. Olivia handed them the file to take a look at.

"Seriously?" Tanya was surprised as she handed it back to the detective.

"Yup, seems that he wants a chance at parole. Though he doesn't know that when he finally comes up for said parole, the DA's office will oppose it," Olivia said.

"So how long will he get?" Kyle wanted to know.

"Twenty-five to life plus whatever the Feds give him for the drugs," the detective explained.

"Seems light for two murders and conspiracy but considering what you have, it's good to be lucky sometimes," Tanya said.

"I'll take lucky over missing our opportunity," Olivia nodded.

"Totally," Kyle nodded as well. Tanya went into her pocket and pulled out a cough drop. She'd been having an itch in her throat the last couple of days and she was trying to stave off a full blown illness.

"So do you need anything else from us?" Kyle wanted to know. Olivia was about to start questioning the two of them for Tucker when Tanya grabbed Kyle's arm. He immediately turned and saw she was having trouble breathing, but there was something else in the look on her face that Olivia couldn't place. She quickly helped get the officer into a chair and her partner barked out to anyone who was listening,

"Call for a bus!" Russo went into his belt and grabbed an epi pen out of it. He stabbed it into Tanya's thigh and it seemed to be helping but she was still turning blue, the cough drop, lodged in her throat. Olivia watched in awe as Kyle hauled his partner out of the chair and started to do the Heimlich maneuver. The cough drop went flying and Tanya suddenly gasped for air.

"Bag that cough drop!" Again Russo was barking orders like he was in charge but no one argued with him. Kenny quickly grabbed an evidence bag and scooped up the sticky drop from the floor. Olivia helped Kyle get Tanya onto the floor and elevated her feet onto the chair. She was breathing on her own but she was obviously not one hundred percent.

"The bus in en-route. They'll be here any minute," Munch announced. By now, Elliot and the Captain had exited Cragen's office. Fin was on his way back from the bathroom and his eyes were wide at the scene in front of him.

"What the hell just happened?" Cragen wanted to know.

"Someone just tried to kill my partner," Kyle said, he was on the edge of losing the cool he managed to keep so far.

"She choked on a cough drop," Munch thought he was reaching.

"No. She's allergic to peanuts. I was trained on what to do and she and I have a tell, in case she can't talk. Someone spiked her cough drops," Kyle insisted as he lowered himself to the floor and took Tanya's hand in his.

"Who would do that?" Elliot asked as he saw Olivia pick up her phone and place a call.

"I don't know but I do know she's only allergic to peanuts and she had those cough drops yesterday and they were fine," Kyle said, looking up at the detective. Elliot frowned. If Tanya was part of making those tickets disappear, she would not try to hurt herself in front of other cops. Heck, he wasn't even sure it was something worth hurting herself, which meant that Russo had a point. There was something rotten at the one oh five.


	28. Chapter 28

"So how long have you been in love with your partner?" Olivia asked Officer Russo as they sat near the nurses' desk. The ambulance had gotten Officer Lewandowski to the hospital and the doctors were running every check they could think of. Kenny had run the cough drop down to the lab and intended to stay there while the technicians tested the almost lethal item. Munch and Fin headed to the one oh five to check over Officer Lewandowski's locker. They'd grabbed Rich from CSU so they could collect any potential evidence. Elliot was trying to give Olivia space to talk to Russo.

"How can you say that at a time like this?" Russo wasn't stupid, the implication could get both he and Tanya in trouble.

"You just saved her life and you can't imagine anyone else doing a better job right?" Olivia pressed. He heaved a sigh.

"Your guys' secret is safe with me as long as you help me catch the guy who did this," Olivia promised.

"She doesn't know. I didn't want to ruin our careers when she said I was crazy," Kyle finally admitted.

"Partners get close. You were doubly trusted. You carry Tanya's epi pen. You're watching her back when you're on duty from suspects and from her allergy. She needs to know, one way or the other, but before all of that, who would want to hurt her? Could it have to do with the parking tickets?" Olivia wanted to know.

"For an SVU detective, you ask a lot about those stupid parking tickets," Russo gave her a look.

"I don't have much of a choice. You know we run checks on people so we don't get any surprises when the case goes to court. You and your partner ended up in the middle of our investigation and now someone just tried to kill Tanya," Olivia deflected. Kyle nodded before saying,

"It's not Tanya and I'm not just saying that. The desk sergeant asked me the other day why my login info was used on his computer. I said I didn't know what he was talking about and we confirmed that I wasn't even on duty when I supposedly logged onto his computer. Tanya had left something in her locker and swung by the precinct when she was off duty. She knows who was at that computer."

"Nobody kills someone over cleaning up parking tickets. Certainly not a fellow officer," Olivia pointed out.

"I don't see why they would but I can't imagine who else would try and kill Tanya. The worst thing we've run into on our beat is shoplifting or someone blowing through a red light. This investigation has been the first one we've been involved with, more than just securing the scene," he explained.

"Well who would know your login info other than you and Tanya?" Olivia asked.

"The Captain keeps a record of our info in his office. No way it's him. Someone would have noticed a guy in the ladies locker room," Russo said.

"Yeah that would have been an issue," Olivia nodded.

"Of course it's no big secret that the records are in the Captain's office. You'd be surprised on how often people forget their password," he admitted.

"So we just went from a handful of suspects to a whole building full. Great," Olivia heaved a sigh and then left Officer Russo to call Tucker. He and IAB needed to intervene. Elliot saw her move from her chair and he stepped in to ask the nurses what was going on.

"Officer Lewandowski is still with the doctors. Does she have any family?" The nurse asked. At that question, Officer Russo moved from his seat to stand next to Elliot.

"Her folks live on City Island. I called them but didn't get an answer," he said.

"Ok well try and call them again. Are you her partner?" The nurse wanted to know.

"I am," Kyle nodded.

"Very good. I'll keep you posted," with that the nurse stood up from her chair and headed to find out what was going on.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end. Mostly fluffy stuff from here on out. Thanks so much for reading.

The next morning, Officer Lewandowski was released from the hospital, but she wasn't able to go home. Her partner took her to his place while CSU was combing through her apartment. There was a protection detail assigned to Lewandowski, the officers guarding them were from IAB, in order to avoid having anyone from the one oh five assigned.

The cough drops had indeed been tainted with peanut oil. The lab technician that had figured someone had injected the cough drops with the oil. If it had been on the outside of the cough drop, Tanya would have tasted it right away.

"Someone took the time to taint the cough drops with a needle. They have some issues," Olivia said as the group reconvened at the precinct.

"More like subscriptions. Once Tanya could talk again, she said that the bag seemed fuller than she remembered it but shrugged it off because she hadn't really been paying attention to how many of them she was using," Munch told them.

"So someone bought a new bag, tainted all of them, and then put that bag in her locker replacing the other one," Elliot said.

"Seems like. We didn't find any cough drop bags in the trash cans of the precinct, so the perp took the bag home or dumped it once outside the precinct," Fin said.

"Tucker is taking over the investigation," Captain Cragen announced as he left his office.

"Makes sense. It has to be a cop doing this. No civilians have access to the locker room," Elliot shook his head.

"How did Tucker get wind of what happened?" Kenny asked.

"I called him. Officer Russo made an allegation that another cop was trying to kill his partner. Seemed pretty legit considering what else he told me," Olivia was trying to cut this off at the pass.

"What else did he say?" Munch wanted to know.

"That someone logged into the desk sergeant's computer using his login info. That he thought Tanya saw who it was," she said.

"Giving whoever it was a motive to try and have her killed," Fin nodded.

"Exactly. Whoever did this needs to be kicked off the force and sent to jail. Tucker and his goon squad are the best to handle that. We have rape cases to solve," Olivia pointed out.

"Well I hope he at least keeps us informed," Elliot said.

"Not sure I'd hold my breath on that one. Olivia, a minute?" Cragen indicated that he wanted to speak to her in his office. She gave Elliot a look and then followed the Captain into his office. Cragen closed the door and sat back down at his desk.

"Cap?" Olivia sat down, slightly concerned at what was going on.

"I know that technically you have to report to Tucker but next time can you give me a heads up? I don't want anyone wasting time on an investigation that we aren't going to be able to see through anyway," he said.

"No problem. Things were happening so fast; I was kind of hoping we could finish this one out. Whoever this cop is, they're dangerous and they've been backed into a corner," Olivia frowned.

"Somehow those parking tickets must be the cover to something much bigger. That said, it is definitely not something that would involve our unit. Hopefully, Tucker will be able to work it fast. You and Elliot heading to that auction that led to our last case?" Cragen wanted to know.

"Yeah. The auction is tomorrow," she said.

"Good thing it's Saturday then. Make sure that you and Elliot take the day off," he winked and then dismissed her.

"All good?" Kenny asked as she left the room.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. Just needs our fives before we leave today," she said.

"He couldn't tell us that himself?" Munch raised an eyebrow.

"Well let's just say I won't be calling Tucker first the next time this happens," Olivia told them.

"Don't sweat it. You did the right thing, baby girl. I may not like IAB but they need to exist for those of us whose power goes to their heads," Fin said before turning back to his paperwork. Liv said down at her desk and turned her focus to her computer. Her phone buzzed. She picked it up and noticed that Elliot had texted her from his desk. She had a smirk on her face when she read the message –  _You in trouble?_

_Cap wishes us luck at the auction tomorrow_ , she typed back.

_Hopefully we'll be celebrating tomorrow night_ , he responded. They quickly got back to work. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.


	30. Chapter 30

The crowd at the auction was considerably smaller than the previous attempt. Elliot figured it was because people didn't want a piece of property that had had a dead body on it, especially when that body was a child. Those that had showed up mostly looked like developers. The piece of property could probably house a duplex and make good money as a rental property. They'd bulldoze the house and then wait a year before building something new, getting a tax break on the empty property, in the meantime.

"We don't stand a chance," Olivia shook her head. She wasn't wrong. They didn't have the money to compete with developers.

"Maybe if we set the bar high, they'll give up?" Elliot offered a weak attempt at comfort. He figured the developers would only give up way past the amount of financing they'd been able to acquire. They had no collateral but they did have good credit. Olivia was named as the person applying because she was a first home buyer and as a sergeant earned more money than her partner. Elliot being the co-signer helped given his depth of credit history and the fact that he was a veteran. Still the amount they could take out was only three hundred thousand dollars. The interest rates were low but the neighborhood was pricier than that.

"Ok folks we're going to start the bidding low. I'm sure you've all noticed we lost a lot of the folks who had showed interest in the property," the auctioneer announced from his spot in front of the home. He stood on the porch, which allowed him to see the crowd. There were about thirty people standing there but only ten people held the little signs with numbers to hold up, in order to indicate their bid.

"Let's open at fifty-thousand dollars. Do I have fifty-thousand?" Everyone stuck up their signs.

"Sixty-thousand," called out Olivia.

"Seventy-five," called out a man in an expensive suit.

"Eighty," called out a woman in a pantsuit.

"I have eighty thousand. Do I have eighty-five?" The auctioneer asked.

"Ninety," Olivia called out.

"Ninety-five," called out a different man from earlier.

"One hundred," Olivia challenged.

"One-twenty-five," a different woman called out. At that moment, the crowd grew silent. It wasn't that the amount was outrageous, but it seemed that a few weren't really willing to pay that much to then bulldoze the house later.

"One-fifty," Olivia hoped that some would drop out.

"One-seventy-five," the man in the expensive suit spoke up.

"Two-hundred," Olivia knew they were getting close to their limit, especially if they wanted to do all of those repairs to the home. However, a couple more people looked like they weren't willing to pay that much and stopped putting up their

"Two-twenty-five," the woman in the pantsuit wasn't ready to give up.

"Two-fifty," Olivia said. There was murmuring in the crowd.

"I have two-hundred and fifty thousand. Do I have two fifty-five?" The auctioneer asked.

"Two-fifty-five," the man in the expensive suit.

"Two-sixty," Olivia would have been biting her nails if she didn't have to be on her game.

"Two-sixty-five," the man in the expensive suit wasn't giving up.

"Two-seventy-five," Olivia wasn't ready to give in yet.

"I have two-hundred and seventy-five thousand. Do I have two eighty?" The auctioneer asked. There was a hesitation in the crowd. The whole point of the auction was to get the property cheaper than market value. They were fast approaching market value and it was making them think twice.

"Two-hundred and seventy-five thousand, going once," the auctioneer announced.

"Two-hundred and eighty," the man in the expensive suit was not giving up and Olivia looked at Elliot. He nodded.

"Two-hundred and ninety," Olivia swallowed hard.

"Two-hundred and ninety thousand, going once," the auctioneer announced.

"Going twice…" the door was still open, and the two partners held their breath.

"Sold to Sergeant Benson and Detective Stabler!" The auctioneer smiled. Elliot grabbed Olivia and swung her around before landing a kiss on her lips. They had paid a lot more than they had wanted but the house was theirs and now they could start moving their future forward.

"Did you investigate what happened here?" The man in the expensive suit asked.

"We did. We found the guy and he's going to jail," Elliot said.

"Good. Congratulations on getting the house. Hopefully you can bring some joy back to it," the man smiled and left.

"So what do we do now?" Olivia asked as she watched the man walk over to the auctioneer.

"Well we only have ten-thousand left for repairs so let's start with the roof and we'll take it from there. Maybe we can get a separate loan or financing through carpet and paint guys. I don't know we'll figure out," Elliot said.

"We always do," she smiled and kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter remains in our story. Thanks so much for reading!


	31. Chapter 31

Elliot's friend, Steve Winthrop, came with his crew to fix the roof, at a discounted price. They were secure for the winter and used that time to get estimates for the work that needed to be done to the kitchen, bathrooms, and basement. Projects were prioritized and then came the trouble about the money. While Steve had discounted the roof, it still only left five thousand for repairs that were definitely going to take more than that.

The squad had been over to the house multiple times to hang out and to help out with the projects they could handle by themselves. Assured that the lead in the current wall paint could just be painted over the kids' rooms were painted first and the carpets were ripped out and replaced followed by Elliot's and Olivia's room. That's right, the cat was out of the bag. Although most of the squad had suspected something was going on, despite the two's attempt at being discrete. They did work with other detectives after all.

"Hey El, should we just change our names?" Olivia asked as she scooped up the pile of mail off the counter in the kitchen and headed toward him. They had changed their addresses and now they had been getting twice the junk mail that they had been getting individually, despite the fact that they'd only been living in the house for about six months.

"I don't think that'll work. We moved and they still found us. Besides I think we need to focus more on trying to pick a new color for the living room. Not sure I can stand this weird orange for much longer," he told her from his spot in the middle of the living room, where he stood staring at the color swatches and the walls. The two had had the movers place the furniture from their apartments that was worth saving in the house. Needless to say, the brown couch from Olivia's place went with the orange but sometimes it was just harmful to the eyes, especially with Elliot's tan recliner.

There was a knock on the door and Olivia looked at Elliot. He shrugged. The two of them cautiously approached the front door and Elliot looked out the peep hole. There was a smirk on his face, and he went and opened the door.

"Mr. Peterson, come on in. What brings you by?" Elliot asked.

"Well I know it's a little late, but I figured I'd be neighborly and stop on by to officially welcome you to the neighborhood," Vernon smiled.

"That's very nice of you. How are you doing?" Olivia asked as they moved toward the kitchen.

"Doing fine. Now, I'm not one to pry but how goes the renovations?" he wondered.

"Well the roof is the only thing we've managed to handle. We got some estimates to turn this place around but it's going to take some time," Elliot admitted.

"The joys of owning a home, I'm afraid. It's good to see the kids enjoying the space. I'm sure they have their own ideas," Vernon smiled.

"Oh, they do. We're going to let them do what they want to their bedrooms. This house is bigger than the apartment, but they still have to share, well Lizzie and Kathleen do," Elliot said.

"Definitely better than the floor, which I remind of all the time. You want something to drink?" Olivia offered.

"I'm fine, I appreciate the offer though. I don't want to take up any more of your time, but I do need to borrow Elliot for a moment," Vernon said.

"Of course. I suppose I should figure out what we're eating for dinner," Olivia smiled and headed for the fridge while Elliot pulled Mr. Peterson into the dining room.

"What is it sir?" he asked.

"When are you going to make an honest woman of her?" Vernon gave him a look. Elliot was surprised at his neighbor's question.

"Don't wait son. You never know what can happen. One morning, you'll wake up and she'll be gone. Trust me," Mr. Peterson said.

"We don't have the money for a wedding right now. I want her to have the wedding of her dreams. Not just a day down at the courthouse," Elliot explained.

"I understand. You want to give her the world and she deserves it but maybe what she wants is something simple. But you're not going to know if you don't ask," at that moment, Vernon went into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He handed it to Elliot.

"Sir, I…"

"It was my mother's ring. It should have gone to Rose but after her mom's death, our relationship fell apart. I want you two to have it. Just like this old house, this ring needs to mean something good to someone again. My mom and dad were married for over sixty years. No reason it can't be worn for another sixty years," Vernon didn't let him finish.

"This is very kind of you sir," Elliot said.

"You deserve it. You helped Mary. You helped me. I just need you to promise me two things," the elder man said.

"Anything. What do you need?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Call me if you want help working on the house and give me Kenny's phone number," Vernon said.

"Sure on the first one but why do you want Kenny's number?" Elliot was confused.

"Because Molly won't ask for it," Vernon smirked. Elliot eyes went wide.

"She's like a daughter to me and I don't want to see her moping around that house of hers. That house, much like this one, is haunted by old ghosts. It needs new happiness. I've seen how she is around him. She forgets that I watched her grow up. I know when she's being shy and afraid. Afraid to open herself up, afraid to get hurt. Kenny doesn't strike me at the hurting type. I'm not expecting them to get married or anything, I just want her to have a shot at love. To have someone remind her what love is," Vernon told him. Elliot nodded. Molly had been through a lot; he and Liv had seen it in her file. He wasn't entirely surprised by the elderly man's crusade. His wife had been taken away from him. His daughter and he didn't talk. Then his life was in danger. A lot to deal with and think about. Wanting to just leave his mark on the world before he left it, Vernon was trying to take care of everyone else.

"Join us for dinner," Elliot said, it was the least he could do.

"It's your night without the kids. I'll swing by tomorrow," Vernon winked and with that was out the front door. Elliot made sure it closed behind him, stuffing the box in his pocket.

"What was that all about?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing. I invited him to dinner tomorrow with the kids," he said.

"Good. I feel bad that he eats alone," she said.

"Well he does have Hugo," Elliot pointed out.

"That is good. So I called the pizza guy. He'll be here in twenty," Olivia told him.

"Nothing worth making?" Elliot raised an eyebrow.

"We were going to go shopping yesterday and then we ended up at the courthouse so…" she trailed off. Tucker had caught the officers involved with poisoning Officer Lewandowski and busted up their ring. Turns out five officers were handing out tickets to people and then telling them if they paid the officer who pulled them over, they'd erase the ticket from the system, so their insurance company wouldn't find out. It was a good side hustle and it was easy to use someone else's password to do it. Both Olivia and Elliot had been called to testify the previous day against the group.

"Ok pizza it is," Elliot smiled. After dinner was done and the leftovers put away, the two headed up to their bedroom. They both wanted what they had to last forever and with Vernon's help, they would.

**The End**


End file.
